Deccan Chronicle Holdings gains on buyback proposal

Deccan Chronicle Holdings moved up 1.13% to Rs 206 at 13:35 IST after its board approved a buyback of shares at a maximum price of Rs 250 per share.

The BSE Sensex was up 410.21 points, or 2.20%, to 19183.29.

On BSE, 7.16 lakh shares of the scrip were traded. The stock had an average daily volume of 2.12 lakh shares on BSE in past one quarter.

The scrip had touched a high of Rs 220 and a low of Rs 203 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 252.85 on 6 September 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 118.80 on 31 October 2006.

The scrip had underperformed the market in the one month to 25 October 2007, falling 0.78% as against the Sensex's 10.93% gain. It had also underperformed the market in the past three months, sliding 11.65% against the Sensex's 23.21% rise.

The mid-cap newspaper publisher has an equity capital of Rs 48.98 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

At the current price of Rs 206, the scrip trades at a PE multiple of 15.21, based on Q2 September 2007 annualised EPS of Rs 13.54.

The board also agreed for private placement of up to 24% in subsidiary Sieger Solutions with a floor enterprise value of Rs 1500 crore and ceiling of Rs 1800 crore.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings’ net profit rose 28.4% to Rs 82.60 crore on 25.8% rise in sales to Rs 187.77 crore in Q2 September 2007 over Q2 September 2006.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings's principle activity is to publish newspapers. The company's English daily is circulated in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh.