Acquisition powers ICSA India

ICSA India was locked at upper limit of 5% at Rs 377 at 14:08 IST on BSE after the firm signed a deal with ECE Industries to buy the latter's machineries and equipment along with available drawings, designs and data.

The company made the announcement during market hours today, 6 August 2008.

On BSE, 1.67 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 44,167 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 377.40 and a low of Rs 362.70 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 648.80 on 28 December 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 254 on 08 July 2008.

The scrip had outperformed the market over the past one month till 5 August 2008, rising 35.11% compared to the Sensex's 10.61% gain. It had, however, underperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 19.11% compared to Sensex's 13.72% fall.

The mid-cap firm has an equity capital of Rs 8.81 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

The current price of Rs 377 discounts its Q1 June 2008 annualised EPS of Rs 37.25, by a PE multiple of 10.12.

The transaction would enable ICSA to manufacture the energy meters on its own capacity. The deal also allows ICSA to use the brand name of ECE for a period of six months. Both the parties have also signed a 5-year non-compete agreement.

Net profit of ICSA India rose 9.36% to Rs 40.97 crore on a 14.03% increase in sales to 241.50 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q4 March 2008. The net profit rose 71.3% to Rs 40.97 crore on a 96.9% rise in sales to Rs 241.50 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007.

ICSA India provides software development services and technology solutions for the power, telecommunication and other sector.