Stocks In The News

Man Inds: Orders galore

The stock hit an all-time high of Rs 332 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on the back of strong order book position, putting more than Rs 2,400 crore in hands of the company. The stock appreciated 23 per cent last week, from Rs 250.35 on July 6 to Rs 307.35 on Friday. Trading volumes on the BSE and the NSE increased from 7.80 lakh shares to 17.82 lakh shares.

Recently, the company has received export orders aggregating to Rs 220 crore including order from Petronas (Malaysia) for line saw pipes. It is also executing various major contracts for manufacture and supply of line pipes and coating systems to various clients in India and abroad.

In addition, the company has bid for several large projects globally valued over $1 billion. This is expected to improve the order book position of the company in the coming months as most of these bids are at an advanced stage of evaluation.

SIB: Q1 results boost

The stock has posted a weekly gain of 20 per cent to close at Rs 152.65. The trading volumes increased by 17.89 lakh shares to 38.99 lakh shares as the company posted a robust first quarter results.

Net profit during the quarter ended June has increased by 101 per cent to Rs 30.37 crore.

The growth in profit was mainly driven by increase in interest income and lower gross non-performing assets. Interest income jumped 39.8 per cent owing to robust credit growth and improved yield on advances. The bank reduced gross NPA from 5.42 per cent in Q1 of FY07 to 3.7 per cent in Q1 of FY08.

The bank's Q1 net interest income (NII) rose 17 per cent, deposits grew 25 per cent and advances jumped 27 per cent. The bank has set itself a business target of Rs 25,000 crore for 2007-08, which according to analyst is achievable. According to an IL&FS InvestSmart analyst, increasing profit visibility, improving balance sheet quality and confidence in the bank's capability to expand its reach creates an investment opportunity considering its cheap valuations.