The annualised yields in these scrips have subsequently gone up to as high as 18 per cent. If IFCI maintains the 30 per cent dividend for fiscal 1999, at its current market price of Rs 20.2, the annualised yield could be anything between 17.5 per cent and 18 per cent.

On the same lines, at the current market price of Rs 53 and considering fiscal 1998 dividend payout of 55 per cent by ICICI is maintained, the yield could be in the range of 12.5-12.75 per cent. For IDBI, at the current market price of Rs 49.7 and a dividend of 45 per cent, the yield would be between 10.5 per cent and 11 per cent.Further, it is also assumed here that the dividend warrants are received latest by July-August, 1999.

The rising level of non-performing assets (NPAs) of these financial companies is a cause for concern for the investors. This has, in recent times, led to the FIIs and the retail shareholders move in unison in offloading these scrips on the bourses.

On Wednesday, while the IFCI scrip on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed at Rs 20.20, the scrips of ICICI and IDBI closed at Rs 53 and Rs 49.7, respectively. The volume of shares in the IFCI counter was 1.71 lakh shares.

The rising NPA concerns apart, the investors also expect lower earnings growth for the current fiscal. According to some estimates, this could even come down to single digits from the respectable growths in earnings reported during fiscal 1998. During the last fiscal while ICICI's net profit had grown by 40.5 per cent, IFCI's net profit had grown by 29.5 per cent and that of IDBI by 26.5 per cent.

Among the three institutions, investorconcern for IFCI seems to be more due to its far lower level of transparency than its peers. In case of greater problems with its asset quality, IFCI is likely to lose out on the competition to the other two financial institutions.