The Hindu Business Line : Pondy Oxides stock jumps 30 pc in a week

Pondy Oxides and Chemicals is poised to take over a 4,000-tpa private zinc unit located near Chennai. Mr Anil Bansal, Managing Director of Pondy Oxides, confirmed that the company was looking for inorganic growth and expansion into other metals. He, however, declined to give further details.

Of late, the stock has been attracting greater volumes on several growth triggers. On Wednesday, it logged 7.44 lakh shares on the BSE. In the last one week, the stock gained by about 30 per cent. The Rs 2 stock finished at Rs 5.34 on the BSE.

The company is in the process of raising Rs 7.31 crore through a rights issue for its targeted expansion into aluminium and tin. As a measure of backward integration, the company has moved ahead to manufacture lead metal and lead compounds at a plant in Tamil Nadu. The Rs 5-crore plant will start commercial production from September 1, 2006, Mr Bansal said. The manufacturing capacity of the lead plant would be 14,400 tpa, and 3,600 tpa for lead compound.

Company results

In 2005-06, the company achieved a total sales and other operating income of Rs 86.97 crore, compared to the turnover of Rs 71.69 crore in the previous year. Its net profit was at Rs 1.42 crore and recommended a dividend of 15 per cent for 2005-06.

Recent trends in metal markets, according to analysts, indicate a steady demand growth and better margins. They suggested that the expansion plan of Pondy Oxides is likely improve its bottomline in the coming quarters.