Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Nov 11, 2003 |
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Markets
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Stock Markets Apollo Hospitals hits new intra-day high Deeptha Rajkumar
THE stock of Apollo Hospitals gained sharply on Monday to hit a new intra-day high on the bourses on the back of sustained investment-based buying. Apart from market perception of a pick-up in the healthcare segment, brokers attribute the upside to a run up preceding the company's announcement of its financial performance before or on November 30. "The stock should easily touch Rs 200 levels in the near term,'' sources said. As per market talk, fund interest apart, a leading bull operator has been mopping up shares at this counter. The stock has appreciated by 86 per cent from its low of Rs 90.95 as on April 1 on the BSE. It witnessed an intra-day high of Rs 179.80 on the BSE and Rs 175 on the NSE on Monday. Analysts maintain that the interest at the counter is on account of the fact that it is one of the few listed organised healthcare players available. "It has a fully integrated model from clinics to pharmacies to hospitals etc. Besides, it has rescheduled its debt and all its new initiatives have started earning profits,'' an analyst with a leading domestic broking house said. While there have been concerns over the company having expanded too fast too soon, its shift in business strategy appears to have infused an element of confidence in the stock. According to Mr Prashant Nair, Vice-President, Equities, P-Sec, a sound infrastructure plus the company's focus on hospital management contracts will see incremental growth coming in. "Healthcare spending in India is bound to pick up, particularly with insurance coming through. This will benefit companies like Apollo Hospitals,'' he said. Indications of definite progress in their overseas and other contracts have also improved the outlook on the company's fundamentals. However, skeptics insist that the interest at the counter is but a phenomenon of the bull market. "The stock has been languishing for some time and is one of the few remaining counters that has not seen any movement in this bull market,'' a broker said. The stock ended the day at Rs 167.35 up 8.77 per cent with around 1.71 lakh shares traded on the NSE. On the BSE, it ended the day at Rs 168.15 up 9.29 per cent with around two lakh plus shares traded at the counter.
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