Life Insurance Corporation's holding in ICICI has gone up by 2.83 per cent over the last two months. Just when the chips were down for ICICI on the bourses, LIC appears to have picked up in bulk at low prices.

LIC's holding in ICICI, which was 8.97 per cent as on October 8 has gone up to 11.8 per cent.

Alongwith other financial institutions and banks, ICICI's scrip had slumped to a low of Rs 39.85 on November 3. In the following six sessions, the scrip recovered smartly to reach the Rs 53-mark accompanied by a substantial rise in trading volumes. Though it's not clear when LIC had bought the ICICI shares, the spurt in trading volumes suggest that the corporation would have acquired most of them between November 3 and November 13. From around eight lakh shares traded a day, volumes in ICICI shot up to as high as 33 lakhs during this period, accompanied by a spurt in the price.

The price of ICICI has however been on the decline in recent days following thedowngrading of the outlook to negative by Standard and Poor's.

Institutions are the key players in the ICICI counter. Domestic institutions including LIC, GIC, UTI and IDBI hold approximately 32.08 per cent of the capital. The holding through GDRs is around 20 per cent, while FIIs, NRIs, OCBs and foreign banks together hold 18.28 per cent. About 20 per cent is with the public.

What's up, Archies?

Shareholders of Archies Greetings could be in for a surprise. Senior officials of the company have hinted there is "something major" in the offing for investors. They, however, refused to divulge any details, and said the company would until the financial year-end to announce it. According to marketmen, Archies is either planning to announce a special dividend or a bonus. This would give a much-needed boost to the Archies' stock, which has been hamstrung by a low floating stock. News of buying by a foreign fund has already pushed the scrip to a new high of Rs 426 -- in three trading sessions, the stockhas appreciated by almost 10 per cent.

The `right' offer

The Epiz Enzymes counter has been attracting some buying interest prior to the finalisation of the record date for the Rs 4.24 crore rights. Since, November 27, the scrip has risen by 43 per cent. On December 2, the scrip closed at Rs 20 and 24,900 shares changed hands.

Between September 24 and November 2, the scrip had rose risen from Rs 5, its 52-week low, to Rs 17, its 52-week high. However, thereafter, the rally faded, taking the scrip to Rs 14. At the time of filing the letter of offer with Sebi, the offer price (Rs 15) was at a marginal premium to the then prevailing market price. It seemed likely that Epic's German promoters, Feinchemie Schwebda GmbH (FCS), would hike its stake in Epic. At present, FCS holds a controlling stake in Epic's Rs 5.73-crore equity and has already expressed their intentions to pick up the post-issue unsubscribed portion, if any. Epic's shares are listed on the stock exchanges at Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi andAhmedabad, but are not traded on other bourses due to non-payment of listing dues to these exchanges. Mumbai-based Epic manufactures speciality chemicals and agro chemicals including pesticides, mainly for exports. The rights issue, offered in the ratio of 1:2, is priced at Rs 15.

A ray of hope

The hike in the price of copper products has provided Sterlite a shot in the arm. The scrip, which had earlier came under selling pressure after the Madras High Court ordered interim closure of its copper smelter plant, has improved by from Rs 124 to Rs 133. Closure of its smelter plant and rumours of its licence being canceled led to the scrip touching a new low of Rs 118.

The company has increased prices of continuous cast copper rod by Rs 2000 to Rs 105,000 per tonne with effect from December 1. The move is likely to improve Sterlite's bottomline. At present, copper contributes about 61 per cent to sales, telecom cables 35 per cent and the balance is contributed by aluminium. The company also usescopper produced by its smelter for manufacture of its jelly filled telephone cables (JFTC). Copper accounts for 30 per cent of the cost in case of JFTC.

Adjournment of the case hearing to December 7 has given the company more time to prepare its case. On December 1, the company had presented a strong case against closure of its smelter plant.

No gain for SRG Info

Despite SRG Infotech's 392 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 1.62 crore in the quarter ended October 1998, investors seem to have given a thumbs down to the scrip. On Decmeber 2, the SRG Infotech scrip dipped marginally to Rs 2.65 from its previous close of Rs 2.75. During the three month period ended October 1998, the company's income from operations went up 84 per cent to Rs 11.02 crore. On a Rs 44.26 crore equity base, SRG Infotech's annualised earnings per share works out to Rs 1.48.