L&T jumped 4%, to Rs 2, 652, on sustained buying ahead of the record date for a liberal 1:1 bonus issue

Glee in L&T as bonus shares record date nears - L&T jumped 4%, to Rs 2,652, on sustained buying ahead of the record date for a liberal 1:1 bonus issue.

As many as 3 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE.

L&T has set 29 September 2006 as record date for the bonus issue.

Since late July 2006, the stock has witnessed a sustained rise amid intermittent correction. From a low of Rs 2,022.35 on 21 July, it has risen 31% to current Rs 2,652.

At the current market price of Rs 2,652, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) trades at 42.7 times its FY06 EPS of Rs 62.10.

Meanwhile, the L&T scrip entered NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment today with a lot size of 100.

L&T has seen a strong flow of new orders and has a healthy order book. Recently, L&T won a large scale turnkey contract valued at Rs 1,150 crore from Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) for a captive cogeneration power plant in Panipat, Haryana.

L&T has emerged as one of the key beneficiaries of a boom in capital expenditure and infrastructure segment. The company had an order backlog of Rs 28,286 crore on 31 July 2006. L&T also has a price escalation clause in most of its orders to protect margins at a time when the input costs are on the rise.

L&T has earmarked Rs 1,200 crore for capital expenditure in the current financial year. This investment will be used for capacity additions in various projects across west Asia and China, said A M Naik, Chairman & Managing Director, at an AGM held in August 2006. The company is also actively pursuing new manufacturing facilities for selected machinery and industrial products in China.