The scrip, in a month's time has dropped from Rs 38.35 to Rs 22.2, a fall of 73 per cent. Even the volumes have fallen substantially to 5000-7000 shares as against daily average of 40,000-70,000 shares. With MRTPC accepting the interim relief application, there is likely to be further pressure on the stock. The complaint filed against the company is for misrepresenting kinnow juice as natural orange juice and representing it as orange juice made from the finest oranges from America. The company (which had a 19 per cent market share in the orange juice segment) has been witnessing a drop in its market share. There are also rumours of company facing a cash flow problem -- some of the employees are reported to have have left the company for not recieving their salaries for three to four months. Although these rumours could not be proved but analysts opine that due to the drain of textile division on the bottomline, the company is likely to face cash problems. The company reported a net loss of Rs 11.86 crore forthe fiscal 1999. Investors should stay away from the counter till the picture clears. However, those who already hold the stock should stay invested and keep their fingers crossed.

Ride high with Punjab Tractors
A good performance in the first half and a second interim dividend could lead to fresh interest at Punjab Tractors and group company Swaraj Engines counters. Punjab Tractors have reported a 20 per cent jump in the net profit to Rs 70.5 crore and a second interim dividend of 65 per cent (a total interim of 130 per cent). Following the footsteps of its promoter, Swaraj Engines have reported a net profit of Rs 67.5 crore for the first half and has declared an interim dividend of 55 per cent. This brings the total interim diviend to 110 per cent for the fiscal 2000. The scrip of Punjab Tractors is currently trading at Rs 1033.35. The counter witnessed a substantially high volume of 39,750 shares on Friday. Marketmen expect the scrip to cross the Rs 1500 mark by end of the current fiscal. Reason for optimisim - the company sold 25,400 tractors in the first six months of the current fiscal clocking an outstanding growth of 12.6 per cent while the industry average is mere 5.6 per cent. The company has also managedto improve its market share from 18.1 per cent to 19.3 per cent. On the current earnings, the annualised EPS works out to be Rs 69.62 and the scrip is currently enjoying a PE of 14.84 times which leaves scope for appreciation in future. The stock had fallen from its high of Rs 1500 to the current levels. But with the company now emphasising on high quality of product and superior after sales customised services supplemented by versatile and well spread product portfolio, the scrip can move in only one direction - go up.

Swaraj Engines, riding on back of Punjab Tractors, has managed to give a good performance in the first half of fiscal 2000. Almost whole of its production (engines) are consumed by Punjab Tractors which itself is growing on back of good rural demand. The stock in the last one month has witnessed heavy selling pressure which led to its fall from Rs 900 level to Rs 775. On a small equity base of Rs 4.14 crore, the EPS on an annualised basis works out to be Rs 41.78.