Bonus record date sends State Trading Corporation surging

State Trading Corporation of India jumped 5% to Rs 830.75 at 15:45 IST on BSE after gaining 10.24% in the previous two sessions on setting record date for a 1:1 bonus issue.

On BSE, 17892 shares of the scrip were traded with pending buy orders for 4039 shares at the maximum limit. The stock had an average daily volume of 22541 shares on BSE in past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 830.75 and low of Rs 816 so far during the day. The scrip hit a 52-week high of Rs 1736 on 19 November 2007 and 52-week low of Rs 134 on 13 December 2006.

The scrip had had outperformed the market over the past one month till 4 March 2008, declining 0.43% compared to the Sensex's fall of 12.44%. It underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 26.73% compared to Sensex's decline of 17.22%.

The state-run trading firm has an equity capital of Rs 30 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. Government of India holds 91.02% stake in the company (as at end December 2007).

At the current price of Rs 830.75, the scrip trades at a PE multiple of 18.15, based on Q3 December 2007 annualised EPS of Rs 45.75.

The company has set 24 March 2008 as record date for bonus issue. It had announced the record date for bonus issue after market hours on 29 February 2008. This is a maiden bonus issue from the company.

State Trading Corporation of India is a premier international trading house owned by the Government of India. The company trades in almost all the countries of the world. The company exports and imports a number of products ranging from agricultural commodities to manufactured products.

State Trading Corporation of India posted 88.80% jump in net profit to Rs 34.31 crore on 12.40% fall in net sales to Rs 4785.87 crore in Q3 December 2007 over Q3 December 2006.