Tata Power electrifies Murugan Fund

STREET SIGNS

The Murugan Fund reckoned Tata Power after the company said that it plans to invest Rs 100-150 billion in mainly coal-fire projects over the next five years. The fund is said to have bought nearly seven lakh shares of Tata Power, despite not-so-encouraging quarterly numbers.

The company posted an 11.43 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 125.67 crore for the September quarter of FY06, compared to Rs 141.89 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

Total income went up by 6.21 per cent to Rs 1,103.67 crore for the quarter. Among those who are impressed by the stock is Pearl Brokerage who had put out a 'buy' rating on the stock.

According to the brokerage, Tata Power is expected to report a consolidated net profit of Rs 540 crore for FY06, compared to Rs 420 crore in FY05. Pearl Brokerage has a target of Rs 487 on the stock.

The right fit
Though the Bata India stock has been slipping along with many other stocks in the past few sessions, there is still a lot of buying interest at the counter.

There was a big deal between Reliable Fund and Castro fund at the Bata India counter, with the latter buying some 10 lakh shares at 145.40 from the former. According to those in the know, Castro is of the opinion that the restructuring programme at Bata will bear fruit.

The loss making company had come out with a rights issue to meet working capital requirements and finance some of the new initiatives to help make the business more profitable.

The company has already gone in for two rounds of voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), which helped it to reduce its unwanted flab and become more streamlined in the process.

Sawing the seeds
The Jindal Saw (formerly known as Saw Pipes Ltd) counter also saw a big block deal between Reliable Fund and Metro Fund. The former bought nearly 13 lakh shares at Rs 363.50 from the Metro Fund.

Recently, the company had approved the hike in FII investment limit from 24 per cent to 49 per cent of the paid-up capital of the company. Jindal Saw had also raised $65 million through issue of 8.135 million global depository shares (GDS), excluding a green shoe option of $10 million.

The GDSs will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and also traded on the International Order Book of the London Stock Exchange. The issue generated demand from investors across Asia, Europe and the United States. Metro Fund had acted as the sole book-runner on the transaction.

In other news...
There was a deal between two bigwigs at the Glaxo SmithKline Pharma counter. Singapore-based Pricey Fund bought more than 4 lakh shares at Rs 870, while Uncle Sam was the seller.