The Hindu Business Line : Fear over numbers plunges media stocks in gloom

AFTER remaining firm for over a month, media company shares fell across the board on Tuesday on profit booking and concern that profitability would may not be as good as expected in the June quarter.

There was also concern in the market over sale of Zee Telefilms shares by some employees of the company.

In Tuesday's trading, the major loser included Balaji Telefilms, down 8.12 per cent to Rs 59.95 on the BSE, Saregama, down 5.51 per cent to Rs 48.90, and Zee Telefilms, down 3.72 per cent to Rs 123.05. Other stocks to fall included Mukta Arts (down 2.76 per cent at Rs 45.75), Tips Industries (down 2.30 per cent at Rs 27.65) and Sri Adhikari Brothers (down 2.23 per cent at Rs 59.10). Even news channels companies such as NDTV and TV Today Network were down.

According to brokers, the sale of media stocks started after the market came to know that some of the key employees of Zee Telefilms had sold all the shares they held in the media company in the open market.

Zee Telefilms had informed the stock exchanges on Monday that its four employees had sold their entire holding in the company. The employees are: Mr A.C. Saha, Advisor to the CMD, who had sold2,25,000 shares; Mr Himanshu Mody, EA to the CMD, sold his entire holding of 1,37,143 shares and Mr Nitin Vaidya, Business Head, sold 71,635 shares. Even Company Secretary Mr Vikas Gupta sold 3,37,953 shares.

When contacted, a Zee Telefilms official said that there is no corporate development that warranted the sale of shares by these employees. However, the company reported that Mr Sunil Khanna, President, Zee TV, had quit the company. One equity analyst said that media stocks held out when most other stocks moved down. "This must be an appropriate time for booking profits," he said.