NOVEMBER 26: A large number of stocks from the unsung B group of the Bombay Stock Exchange have been the most rewarding for investors in calendar 1999. While stocks like Infosys, Zee and Satyam have been the demi-gods on the bourses, a virtual unknown entity like Vakrangee Software, a new entrant into the software industry, has seen an astonishing gain of 7800 per cent! The scrip has galloped from Re 1 to Rs 79 in the 11 months since January 1, 1999.For connoisseurs of the bourses, who wish to sample the sizeable gains in the B group, consider this. Close to 270 scrips have churned out returns in excess of 100 per cent. And unlike the A and B1 groups, where IT, media and telecom stocks have been runaway success, it has been an assortment of sectors among B group stocks. For instance, in A and BI groups, 8 of the top ten stocks were from the software sector. On the other hand, there are just three stocks from the IT sector in the top ten of the B group. The top ten list includes non-IT companies like Pantaloon Fashions, Sharp Industries, The Gramophone Company of India, Top Cassettes and Punsumi India, who have all given returns in excess of 1000 per cent over the last eleven months.
``Clearly, investors have found value in B group stocks too, which had been lying low for almost three years now. It will be grossly unfair to label all these stocks as punter-operated since a bulk of them have risen on improved performance, specific positive news like takeover, restructuring or turnaround. While investors have found an opportunity to exit these counters, it has also given increased depth to the markets,'' says a veteran broker.
Vakrangee Software, which was previously engaged in fund-based activities, leasing and share investments, is now in the process of launching a unique application software for management schools, colleges and universities. The market has clearly re-rated the company, thanks to an improvement in business prospects and financials. Similar is the case of Media Video, a market leader in television games. With the company diversifying into software and multimedia and forging strategic alliances with foreign companies, the stock has been on a roll and has gained over 1500 per cent since January 1, 1999. In the case of Advent Computers, however, it was rumours of L&T Information Technology picking up stake that propelled the stock. Restructuring has been the key to the soaring price of Gramophone Company of India, a RPG group company as has Sharp Industries, where the two group companies have been merged with the flagship to synergise their business operations.
-- FE Investor Bureau
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.