On the Mumbai Stock Exchange yesterday (May 4), the HFCL scrip attracted a buyer freeze at Rs 31.60 with volumes of around 11.16 lakh shares. On April 30, the scrip had closed at Rs 28.75 with a volumes of around 3.2 lakh shares. On the National Stock Exchange too, the scrip attracted a freeze at Rs 31.05 with an outstanding order of around 2.7 lakh shares and an actual traded volume of 18,900 shares.

For HFCL, things seem to be looking up after a disastrous first-half. The company reported a substantial drop in net profit to Rs 1.16 crore for the first half ended September 1997 against Rs 15.43 crorereported in the corresponding half of 1996-97. Recently, the company won the Rs 42-crore contract from the department of telecommunications (DoT) for the supply of synchronous digital equipment (SDH). The order is likely to taken up during the fiscal 1998-99.

Last year, HFCL had bagged the prestigious contract for corporate networking from Essar group of companies. Under the contract, Satellite Communications Limited (HSCL), a HFCL group company, would link Essar project sites between Mumbai, Hazira, Jamnagar and Delhi through its state-of-the-art demand assigned multiple access (DAMA) based VSAT services. The link network would provide large number of voice and data channels through an integrated solution using multiplexes. This could give a major boost to the company's fortunes.

Sensing a turnaround, Himachal Futuristic's scrip has already doubled from less than Rs 15 to the current level of Rs 31 in less than a month. Volumes, too, have picked up in the past few sessions from a daily average volume of5,000-12,000 shares to the over 10 lakh shares a day. Trading volume on April 20, April 22 and April 24 had zoomed to 28 lakh shares, 37 lakh shares and 23 lakh shares, respectively. According to market sources, a few funds picked up huge chunks of HFCL. HFCL's scrip after dropping from Rs 70 to Rs 14 in October 1997 has been been trading in the range of Rs 10-25 for the past year-and-a-half.