The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, November 16, 2003

SC verdict on EPS — A blessing for employees
The Supreme Court verdict upholding the validity of employee pension scheme needs to be welcomed. Given the sharp fall in interest rates, the scheme's benefits appear attractive compared to how they looked when the scheme was launched in 1996. More

INVESTMENTS

The challenge of regular income generation
IN THE good old days, eking out a regular income if you had loads of money was never an issue. If you had a few lakhs of rupees, all you needed to do was park some of it in the post office monthly income scheme, spread ... More

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Paper and paperboards — A better script in the making
PAPER and paperboard stocks, especially the frontline ones of Tamil Nadu Newsprint, West Coast Paper and Seshasayee Paper, can be held and also considered for accumulation at lower levels, as the outlook for the ... More

Global paper trail
THE PROJECTED growth in capacity is at its lowest ever in the North American markets, a key supply source along with the Scandinavian countries. In each of the past five years, capacity has risen by less ... More

Gaining by binding
A COMBINATION of consolidation and a disciplined approach to capacity creation has placed industry majors such as Ballarpur Industries, Tamilnadu Newsprint, JK Paper, Seshasayee Paper and West Coast Paper in a vantage ... More

`Cost management will remain a focus area'
The threat of increasing imports is real and may get enhanced when India's efforts to woo the Asean economies bear fruit. Some of these countries are significantly low-cost producers of paper and India will offer a huge market for them. More

Value in the reams
West Coast Paper: Hold/buy on declines
Seshasayee Paper: Hold/buy on declines
Tamil Nadu Newsprint: Hold/buy on declines
Ballarpur Industries: Book profits and reenter at lower levels
J K Paper and The A.P. Paper: Hold More

INSIGHT

Indirect acquisitions — Scope for better compliance?
TRUST ME, it all hinged on a "date". A change in the reference date for working out the price in an open offer may come as a windfall for the shareholders of South-East Asia Marine Engineering Construction (Seamec) ... More

It's all in their interest
Companies seem to be benefiting from the soft interest rate regime tremendously as they go about substituting existing high-cost debt with fresh ones raised at much lower rates. More

Profit-booking tones down FII effect
OVER the past 25 trading sessions, stock prices have not moved up across-the-board in the relentless manner as they did between June and mid-October. Gains have not been of a similar magnitude either. Profit-booking ... More

COMMODITIES

Commodity prices — The wild card in India Inc's performance
INDIA Inc. has churned out exhilarating numbers for the just-ended September quarter, stoking the recent flare-up in equity values. The aggregate profit for a universe of over a thousand listed companies has ... More

FOREX

Forward dollars and spot price
THE RBI's recent Monetary and Credit Policy review has urged companies to hedge their foreign currency borrowings. Why should companies hedge and how does hedging impact the spot market? Assume a company has to pay ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

UTI Pharma: Buy (High-risk)
INVESTMENTS in UTI Pharma fund can be considered now. The healthcare industry is entering a new phase in the next couple of years. The opportunities that such changes hold could lead to significant appreciation in ... More

HDFC High Interest Fund: Invest
UNIT-holders in HDFC High Interest Fund (formerly Zurich High Interest Fund) earned a three-year annualised return of 13.5 per cent. The fund is suitable for risk-seeking investors who prefer to hold just one bond fund ... More

MFs: Not mere spectators
Domestic investors have been making use of the sharp rise in the equity values in the recent times to book profits on their earlier investments. This is a welcome trend and could help diminish the negative impression that investors have about investi ng in equity. More

Marginal inflow into equity funds

Equity funds have had a marginal outflow of Rs 17 crore in October 2003, with sales at Rs 2,218 crore and redemption at Rs 2,235 crore. The quantum of inflows into income funds is also on a lower scale in October than in the preceding ... More

STOCKS

Indo Gulf Fertilisers: Buy (High Risk)
INDO Gulf Fertilisers is turning out to be a textbook case on how a de-merger, when it has the right ingredients, can unlock value for shareholders. Since its listing as a stand-alone fertiliser company, both its ... More

Aventis Pharma: Hold/Buy on declines
INVESTORS can retain their holdings in Aventis Pharma. The stock has run up by over 50 per cent since Business Line made a buy recommendation when the scrip was trading at Rs 335 (Business Line, May 25). ... More

Allahabad Bank: Buy
FRESH investments can be considered in Allahabad Bank. A substantial proportion of its loans had turned bad, affecting the bank's performance, but the situation has changed for the better. The NPAs (non-performing ... More

SKF Bearings: Buy
THE steady increase in automobile production has had a positive effect on quite a few companies. Bearings industry major SKF Bearings is one such beneficiary of the vehicle boom. Taking into account its growth ... More

Motherson Sumi Systems: Buy
MOTHERSON Sumi Systems joins the long list of auto-ancillary companies that have reported a sharp growth in earnings for the quarter ended September 2003. For the latest quarter, the company posted a 26 per cent growth ... More

Matrix Labs: Hold
INVESTORS can retain their holdings in the Matrix Labs stock. The scrip had a spectacular run on the bourses this calendar year, registering an almost six-fold jump compared to its price of Rs 200 in January. Given ... More

Chola Inv: Dividend yield pick BUY
The company has been benefiting from the boom in retail lending. This is reflected in the growth in earnings reported by the company in the last several quarters. Companies such as Cholamandalam Finance are also not completely devoid of ... More

Gujarat Ambuja: Concrete footing BUY
The company appears well set to close out FY'04 with impressive earnings growth as the benefits of improvement in cement prices are likely to be captured over a larger volume. The company has aggressively pushed for volume growth, which is likely ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Positive outlook for Reliance
ITC (Rs 860): There was no significant change in the price action in the stock. Similar to the previous week, the stock remained confined to a narrow range. After a sharp drop on Tuesday, the stock remained range bound and staged a modest ... More

Short-term bullishness in indices likely
Preferred view: The index ruled weak in line with last week's expectations. Imposition of margin call and selling by local funds triggered a sharp decline last week. The recent downtrend appears complete and the near-term trend has now ... More

Focus of the week
Bombay Dyeing (Rs 154.5): The stock is in the early stages of a major uptrend. It could move towards the Rs 200-210 range in the near term. Only a close below Rs 127 would negate the positive outlook and could impart prolonged weakness. ... More

Query Corner
NIIT (Rs 190.7): After a sharp uptrend, the stock has turned weak in the past few days. There appears to be little downside risk from current levels. Only a drop below Rs 170 would be a cause of concern. Remain invested with a stop loss at ... More

TWO/THREE WHEELERS

Question `N' Auto
I am planning to buy a motorcycle. I have short-listed the "Hoodibaba bike" and Wind 125. Can you compare these two in terms of economy, fuel efficiency, gearshift ease and pickup? My budget is Rs 50,000. Which one should I buy? - Shishir ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

INSURANCE CORNER

LIC's New Anmol Jeevan
ON November 1, LIC launched New Anmol Jeevan, to replace its popular pure term assurance product, Anmol Jeevan. Let us examine the features of the new policy. Policy details Pure term ... More

STOCK MARKETS

On the move
Gammon India (Rs 294) - The stock surged 34.3 per cent - the biggest gainer among the construction stocks during the week. India Cements (Rs 42) - The stock rose 35 per cent. The rise is notable as several cement stocks ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Drop in volatility levels may boost sentiments
The put-call open interest ratio for index options at 0.6 is not indicating any clear movements for the week ahead. However, since the ratio is below 0.3 levels for almost all other underlying's, it could reduce in the week ahead on positive sentimen ts. More

INCOME TAX

More on Section 88 rebate
IS the maximum rebate available for assessment year 2003-04 Rs 14,000, that is, 20 per cent of Rs 70,000 for all individuals regardless of the total income? Reply There is no difference on the percentage ... More

Tax exemption on purchase of plot
AN individual already owns a residential house. He has taken a loan to purchase a vacant plot on which he proposes to construct a residential house by taking another loan. Both these loans are from financial ... More

CARTOON