The Hindu Business Line : Rolta slumps on talk of offloading by financier

Mumbai, Jan. 13 The stock of engineering solutions major Rolta Ltd plummeted by about 60 per cent to hit its 52-week low in intraday trading on the bourses on Tuesday, fuelled by market rumours that a leading financier with whom the company had pledged almost 2.5 per cent shares had offloaded them in the market.

However, the company stock staged a recovery after the rumour was denied by the management in a conference call with analysts and journalists during the day.

Rolta shares hit an intraday low of Rs 42.4, before settling at Rs 87.5, which is 17.71 per cent lower than the previous day’s close on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

A massive 2.9 crore shares changed hands on the BSE alone.

Rolta statement

According to the company, 40 per cent of Rolta shares are held by Mr K.K. Singh, the promoter, Chairman and Managing Director of the company.

Mr Singh owns a private entity called Rolta Shares and Stocks Pvt Ltd, which has been holding Rolta’s shares for the last 20 years, the company said.

The company also squashed rumours about it being suspended by the Registrar of Company; it does not have any dealings or association with Satyam or the World Bank, said Mr Singh.

Analysts’ view

The IT sector has become vulnerable after the Satyam fiasco and the disclosures made by the World Bank; investors with significant exposure to IT have become very jittery, according to analysts.

Goldman Sachs, through Goldman Sachs Mauritius, holds 3.49 per cent stake in the Mumbai-based company.

Rolta buy

Rolta had recently acquired the Chicago-headquartered Piocon Technologies that provides Oracle-based enterprise and business intelligence solutions to clients in the oil and gas refining segment.

BNP Paribas analysts Mr Abhiram Eleswarapu and Mr Avinash Singh said in a research note: “Over 80 per cent of Rolta’s customers use Oracle databases, and Rolta continues to bolster its core mapping and design services portfolio with asset management tools from its acquisitions, that will enable it to gain a stronger foothold within its key accounts.”

Board meeting

Rolta’s board is scheduled to meet on Monday to consider the company’s results for the quarter ended December.

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