The share price of Bombay Oxygen Investments has more than doubled in the last one month and on Monday, it closed with a gain of 5 per cent at ₹24,574.85 on the BSE. The main reason behind the rally was the presence of the word 'Oxygen' in its name despite the company having already quit the business. Even shares like National Oxygen, Bhagwati Oxygen, Linde India and Gagan Gases also hit the upper circuit on Monday, as ‘smart’ investors anticipated that demand for oxygen during Covid-19 pandemic will boost these companies in a big way. However, Bombay Oxygen has changed its name as Bombay Investments from October 3, 2018. “Bombay Oxygen trades at 23k from 10k m/m. It's pumped as oxygen manufacturing company dealing in Industrial gases on social media. Funny thing is it discontinued this business 2 yrs ago and now registered as NBFC with virtually zero sales. Someone desperately wants an exit!,” tweeted a portfolio advisor. The company, in fact, said it had discontinued its primary business – manufacturing and supplying of industrial gases – since August 1, 2019. According to the firm, its revenues are derived from the its investments in shares, mutual funds and other financial securities.
Clarification to BSE
The BSE had sought a clarification from the company on the significant price movement on April 8, to which the company had clarified on April 9, stating, “There is no pending information or announcement which may have a bearing on the price movement of the company.
Therefore, the movement in the share price of the company is market-driven and the company is in no way connected with any such movement in price.”
Nothing new
Falling prey to the name of the season is not a new phenomenon in India. A lot of fly-by-operator companies, taking advantage of this mindset of gullible investors, had changed their company name using the words "finance and investments" in the 1993-95 period that witnessed the “financial” boom and "information technology" during the dot-com boom between 1998 and 2001. To check this menace, SEBI, in 2004, had amended new norms for change of name, mandating that at least 50 per cent of the total revenue in the preceding one year period should have been accounted for by the new activity. Since then, fake name changes have reduced sharply.