Uttam Galva finds favour on price hike

Uttam Galva Steels surged 7.33% to Rs 36.60, after raising prices of all its products by Rs 1,000 per tonne for quarterly contracts, and by Rs 2,000 per tonne in the domestic spot market. As many as 8.44 lakh shares were traded on the BSE.

The stock has traded range-bound after rising smartly by late-July 2006. From Rs 27.35 on 21 July, it rose to Rs 33.65 by 14 August, only to remain range-bound thereafter. The stock moved between Rs 31 and Rs 35. The stock closed at Rs 34.10, on 29 September 2006,

At the current market price of Rs 36.60, Uttam Galva trades at 3.38 times its Q1 June 2006 annualized EPS of Rs 10.82.

Uttam Galva had raised the price of all galvanised steel products by Rs 500-1,000 per tonne, on 8 September 2006, due to a rise in zinc prices and input costs.

Uttam Galva Steel recently lost a bid to acquire the Detriot Cold Rolling Mill in the US. As per reports, it is keen on an acquisition, which will strengthen its presence in the US, and will offer value-added offerings for the automotive and other sectors.

The company also plans to set up greenfield units in India and abroad. It is currently expanding capacities by adding new ones, and plans to set up greenfield projects in India and abroad.

Uttam Galva Steels manufactures cold rolled and galvanised products catering to automobile, white goods, engineering and construction sectors. The company exports 15,000-20,000 million tonne of materials for construction and commercial use to the US market, out of a total 30,000 million tonne.

In March 2006, Uttam Galva Steels bagged an order from Stemcor to supply steel over 3 years. As per the deal, Uttam Galva will fix the price of its products every quarter, thereby ensuring factoring of market dynamics.

Uttam Galva had registered a net profit growth of 4.40%, to Rs 22.57 crore (Rs 21.62 crore) for Q1 June 2006. Net sales rose 4%, to Rs 549.80 crore (Rs 528.54 crore).

Souce: Capitalmarket

KPIT Cummins Infosystems gallops anticipating tie-up in auto-electronics

The mid-cap IT scrip KPIT Cummins Infosystems jumped nearly 10%, to Rs 460.50, amid media reports that it will announce a tie-up in the auto electronics space today. As many as 1.5 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE. The stock has seen a solid run up recently. From Rs 349.90 on 15 September, it has risen 31.6% in a short while. The current price of Rs 460.50 discounts its Q1 June 2006 annualised EPS of Rs 27.80, by a PE multiple of 16.5.

As per reports, KPIT Cummins Infosystems is likely to announce a tie-up with Japan's Renaissance. The tie-up is likely to be in the auto electronics space.

KPIT Cummins Infosystems is a Pune-based, mid-sized IT company, focussed on two verticals - manufacturing and banking/finance/insurance. Following amalgamation of Cummins Infotech, KPIT Cummins Infosystems has garnered a key client in Cummins Inc, and has strengthened its presence in the market for the manufacturing vertical.

At the time of announcing Q1 June 2006 results, KPIT Cummins had reiterated its earlier guidance for FY 2007 (year ending 31 March 2007). As per its guidance, revenue for FY 2007 are expected to be in the range of $ 98 million (Rs. 436.1 crore) to $ 102 million (Rs. 453.9 crore), representing growth, in dollar terms, of 34% - 40% over revenues of FY 2006.

Net profit for FY 2007 is expected to be in the range of $ 11.25 million (Rs. 50.1 crore) and $ 12 million (Rs. 53.4 crore), representing growth, in dollar terms, of 51% to 61% over net profits of FY 2006. The company believes the main drivers for growth in net profit would be improvement in offshore mix, new businesses at higher pricing, rationalisation of costs by employing more freshers and maintaining selling, and general and administration expenses at the current level in absolute terms.

For Q1 June 2006, the company reported 1% growth in consolidated net profit, to Rs 10.34 crore, on 13% growth in sales, to Rs 102.27 crore. During the first quarter, the offshore/onsite mix of the company improved to 47:53 as against 43:57 in the quarter ended March 2006. The target of the company is to have an offshore/onsite ratio of 52:48 by end FY 2007.

KPIT Cummins recently launched an operation in Poland to serve its existing global clients.

Souce: CM

Block deals lift Dredging Corporation

Dredging Corporation of India surged 4.6% to Rs 593.90, as two block deals of 2 lakh shares each, were executed in the scrip at Rs 588 and Rs 593.80. The stock has spurted since late last-month. From Rs 507.40 on 21 September 2006, it rose 11.8%, to Rs 567.60, by 29 September.

The Union government has recently awarded Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) the entire Rs 2,000 crore worth of dredging works of the Sethusamudram ship canal project. Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project envisages dredging a ship channel across the Palk straits, between India and Sri Lanka. The project will allow ships sailing between the east and west coasts of India, a straight passage through India's territorial waters, instead of having to encircle Sri Lanka. This will save up to 424 nautical miles (780 Km), and up to 30 hours in time.

State-owned Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) is the premier dredging company in the country. Dredging is the process of excavating/ or removing soil/ or rock from under the water by a dredger. The main objective of dredging is the creation of deeper water to improve navigation. Capital dredging is a one off operation, which is created out for the first time when creating new harbours, ports or berths.

DCI proposes to invest about Rs 900 crore in the next three years, to acquire new dredgers. Besides, DCI has drawn up plans for chartering 10-12 dredgers from international companies to meet the dredging needs in the country. Currently, DCI has 12 dredgers.

DCI is a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Department of Shipping.

For Q1 June 2006, DCI reported 37.7% fall in net profit for Q1 June 2006, to Rs 33.25 crore. Net sales declined 7.7%, to Rs 105.60 crore (Rs 114.47 crore).

Source: capitalmarket