The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra Seamless scales new high

The counter, which has been moving between Rs 256 and Rs 265 (BSE) since December 1 witnessed a more than 17 per cent jump on Friday to end at Rs 309 on the BSE and Rs 310 on the NSE.

The volumes notched up today were also rather substantial.

While there is no clarity on what may have been the exact trigger, there is a talk in the market of a new fund entry.

Known for its strong fundamentals, the stock has strong fund support, finding favour with some of the leading domestic and foreign funds.

Some of the interested players at the counter reportedly are GMO, Templeton, HDFC, HSBC, Reliance etc.

Brokers maintain that it is very possible that a new fund may have gone bargain hunting for NAV purposes. "It is also one of the laggards in the recent rally. So it is very likely that the market is playing catch up," commented a broker.

Analysts are of the view that in terms of pure fundamentals, the company is better placed vis-à-vis its competitors such as ISMT.

Says analyst Mr Jigar Mistry of Prabhudas Liladher, "The company has strong visibility of 30 per cent growth in revenue and 25 per cent growth in PAT over the next couple of years. It also has ambitious plans to venture into steel making after which (FY08), it will be completely integrated."

The company has a strong order book position in ERW pipes and seamless pipes.

MSL had in the recent past also hiked the price of seamless pipes by Rs 3,000-4,000 a tonne to pass on the increase in price of billets.

The stock ended at Rs 308.9, up 16.5 per cent, with around 3.24 lakh shares traded. On the NSE, it closed at Rs 310.45, up 17.11 per cent, with 7.03 lakh shares being traded.