Aban Offshore sets sail on new order

Aban Offshore gained 2.15% to Rs 4106 at 11:40 IST on BSE after the company said its subsidiary has secured a contract worth about $25 million from PTTEP International.

The company made this announcement during trading hours today, 28 February 2008.

On BSE, 15,317 shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 20,167 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 4153 and a low of Rs 4011 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 5555 on 20 November 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 1700 on 16 March 2007.

The mid-cap scrip had outperformed the market over the past one month till 27 February 2008, gaining 3.65% compared to the Sensex's decline of 1.47%. It had underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 11.20% compared to Sensex's decline of 6.20%.

The company's current equity is Rs 7.56 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

The current price of Rs 4106 discounts its Q3 December 2007 annualized EPS of Rs 50.62, by a PE multiple of 81.11.

The contract is to be executed within four months. Thailand based PTTEP International is engaged in oil exploration and production. PTTEP International is a subsidiary of PTT Exploration and Production Public.

In December 2007, Aban Offshore's subsidiary entered into a contract with Chevron Offshore (Thailand) for provision of the jack-up drilling rig, Deep Driller 2.

Aban Offshore's net profit rose 129.8% to Rs 47.77 crore on 34% growth in net sales to Rs 169.07 crore in Q3 December 2007 over Q3 December 2006.

Aban Offshore is India's largest private sector offshore drilling entity. It provides oil field services for offshore exploration and production of hydrocarbons to the oil industry in India and abroad