Kirloskar Ferrous Industries hardens on market buzz

Kirloskar Ferrous Industries soared 7.56% to Rs 72.55 at 13:28 IST on market buzz the company has been allotted iron ore mines in Karnataka.

The BSE Sensex was up 76.29 points, or 0.41%, to 19166.47.

On BSE, 40.85 lakh shares of the scrip were traded. The stock had an average daily volume of 8.81 lakh shares on BSE in past one quarter.

The scrip had touched a high of Rs 76.95 and a low of Rs 68.55 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 73.80 on 14 December 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 29 on 7 March 2007.

The scrip had outperformed the market in the one month to 19 December 2007, adding 15.79% as against the Sensex's 0.98% decline. It had also outperformed the market in the past three months, soaring 54.35% against the Sensex's 16.79% rise.

The small-cap metal firm has an equity capital of Rs 68.50 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

At the current price of Rs 72.55, the scrip trades at a PE multiple of 27.90, based on Q2 September 2007 annualised EPS of Rs 2.60.

The company is planning to expand its pig iron capacity from 2.4 lakh tonnes per annum (tpa) to 4.25 lakh tpa and castings of 84,000 tonnes to 1.30 lakh tonnes. It is investing around Rs 300 crore towards this effort.

According to reports, promoters are also looking at increasing their stake in the company by making a preferential offer of equity.

Kirloskar Ferrous Industries' net profit rose 27.3% to Rs 8.91 crore on 42.8% rise in sales to Rs 169.51 crore in Q2 September 2007 over Q2 September 2006.

Kirloskar Ferrous Industries' principal activity is to manufacture and supply iron castings