Stocks in the news

Acquisition boosts R Systems
The shares of R Systems surged 29.2 per cent last week, from Rs 102.65 to Rs 132.65. The weekly trading volumes jumped four fold from 6.2 lakh shares to 26.72 lakh shares.

The trigger came from the acquisition of Sento Europe from Sento Corporation USA on December 28, 2007. Sento Europe has operations in Netherlands and France and has reported revenues of $14.9 million in FY2007.

According to research report IL&FS Invest Smart, the acquisition of Sento Europe is likely to strengthen R Systems' presence in Europe and enable it to offer BPO services in various European languages.

The company has not revealed the acquisition cost. The deal is expected to be completed by January 15, 2008 and the acquired company is likely to start contributing to the topline and bottomline from the first quarter of FY2008.

Sento Europe is expected to add revenues of Rs 60 crore and profit of Rs 2.8 crore. The consolidated entity is expected to post revenues of 350 crore and net profit of Rs 25 crore in FY08.

Kew Industries in top gear
The shares of Kew Industries surged 27 per cent from Rs 36.65 to Rs 46.55 on the Bombay Stock Exchange last week after the company said it was in talks with Mahindra & Mahindra and JCB for the supply of a varied range of products for their vehicles.

The stock touched a high of Rs 46.55 and a low of Rs 38.20 during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 52.75 on 5 February 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 25.10 on 12 November this year.

The company said that it has opened a dialogue for direct bulk import of raw materials from a South American supplier and is in active discussions for the import of materials which will reduce the cost of production.

The net profit of Kew Industries rose 102.4 per cent to Rs 0.85 crore on 78.9 per cent growth in net sales to Rs 14.83 crore in the second quarter ended September 2007.

The company is engaged in manufacturing and supplying automobile components. The products of the company include automobile components and railway components.