Pvt placement spurs buying in Aurobindo Pharma

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Private placement to a foreign fund spurted Aurobindo Pharma in the morning as the stock witnessed aggressive buying.

The scrip, after touching the day's high of Rs 418, finally ended at Rs 404.40 with volumes accounting for 1.18 lakh shares at the BSE.

According to market analysts, today's gain was a news driven one, as the company is planning to offload nearly 5 per cent stake to the $ 100-million Merlion India Fund raising Rs 90 crore.

However, the expected inflow will help the company grow further as the funds are expected to retire some of its high cost debt, the analyst added.

The company for the quarter ended December 2003 registered a 68.5 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 35.62 crore, as against Rs 21.15 crore in the same quarter last year. The promoters hold 57.4 per cent stake in Aurobindo Pharma as of December 31, 2003.