What’s in the name, says William Shakespeare. Some companies seem to have takenthe Bard of Avon too seriously. Their names are totally divorced from theirbusinesses. Most of these misnamed companies are from the micro-, small- and mid-capcategories. While some can be given the benefit of doubt as their business operations haveevolved to include other sectors, which may have turned into money spinners, eclipsingtheir original business, a few have taken on names to align with the sectors infancy without any change in their original operations.
During the dot-com boom of 2000, telecom, media and technology stocks weresought after by investors. Many companies affixed labels to their names to reflectthe fashion. Similarly, in 2004, a lot of companies changed their names to ride on thereal estate boom. Here are a few examples:
Yantra Natural Resources: Shares of the little known Hyderabad-based textilecompany saw an unabated rally to surge to a record high of Rs 46.75 on 29 July 2011 from a52-week low of Rs 6.15 on 1 November 2010. Thereafter, the stock cooled to Rs 16.55 by 21September 2011. Surprisingly, the advance came without any change in the company’sfinancial performance, except for the name.
Shri Ganesh Spinners changed its name to Yantra Natural Resources in March 2011. Thecompany’s over a year-old foray into mining and power is still on paper. A major partof the revenue still comes from textiles. Listed on the BSE since 2000, promoter ownershipdeclined from a peak of 42.49% end March 2009 to a minuscule 0.02% end June 2011. Latestpublic holding stood at 39.94% and corporate 60.04%. The company went for a 10-for-1stock-split in November 2009.
Clarus Infrastructure Realties: Shares of the Mumbai-based finance firm saw amassive spurt of 603.65% to a lifetime high of Rs 260 on 11 August 2011 from a 52-week lowon 27 September 2010. Thereafter, the stock pared gains to settle at Rs 129.40 by 21September 2011. The maniac rally came despite the company making losses and having anegative net worth. From Mittal Securities Finance, the name was changed to Clarus Finance & Securitiesin 2007, and to the present in 2010, following the merger of Scan Steels with itself.However, a majority of the revenue still comes from the finance sector and not from theinfrastructure or realty sectors as the name indicatesPromoter stake declined from a peak holding of 15.26% end September 2009 to 4.26% endJune 2011. Shares are traded in the ‘T’ group, where delivery is compulsory.
Ruchi Infrastructure: Shares of the Mumbai-based solvent extraction firm have beensouthward bound, sliding from a 52-week high of Rs 42.45 to 11 November 2010 to Rs 18.85on 21 September 2011 after touching a 52-week low of Rs 14 on 18 August 2011. The companyhad resorted to a 10-for-1 stock-split in April 2005.As per its website, Ruchi Infrastructure was incorporated on 28 August 1984 as ColumbiaLeasing & Finance. It changed its name to Ruchi Infrastructure & Finance inSeptember 1994 and again to Ruchi Infrastructure in June 1995. The company was set upprimarily to generate electrical power and construct liquid and solid storage tank, offerwarehousing and logistics services, and carry the business of builders, contractors, anddealers of infrastructure projects.
However, Ruchi Infrastructure is currently in the businesses of storage andtransportation of edible oils, petroleum, liquid bulk chemicals, and agriculturalproducts; in refining of edible oils and manufacturing of vanaspati; and agriculturalwarehousing. Almost the entire revenue comes from the edible oil sector. Listed since2000, the company has its website, pays regular although marginal dividend, and had issuedbonus shares once.
Poddar Developer: Shares of the Mumbai-based textile firm have undergone asustained downtrend from the 52-week high of Rs 184.75 on 7 October 2010 to settle at Rs97 by 20 September 2011 after touching a 52-week low of Rs 84.50 on 9 September 2011.Listed since 2000, Poddar Developer has changed its name thrice from Monotona Exportsto Wearology in 2004 and to the present in 2008. It was set up to export fashion garments,bed linen fabric and industrial garments. The entire revenue comes from the garmentsegment. Income from realty, a marginal part of total revenue, was nil in the past twoyears. The company has a website and pays regular dividend but is yet to issuebonus shares.
Sampada Chemicals: Shares of the Mumbai-based finance firm have been on aroller-coaster ride, rising from the Rs 250 odd level in September 2010 to spurt to arecord high of Rs 498 on 24 November 2010, without any change in its operating financials.Thereafter, the stock fluctuated between the Rs 140 to Rs 435 level only to see a freefall to a 52-week low of Rs 10.95 on 24 August 2011.Sampada Chemicals’s annual report states it is a non-banking finance company inthe business of finance and investments. Promoters have heavily pared their stake from84.34% end March 2009 to a meagre 3.03% end June 2011, while public holding rosefrom 15.66% to 50.85%.Companies’ names should reflect their core business to avoid confusing investors.The regulator should impress companies to shed names that are not aligned to theirmainstream operations.
Despite taking on new businesses, some companies prefer to go by their old names
Select frontline companies have names that may not necessarily reveal their presentoperations. This is because some may have shed their original businesses to diversify intoother areas. Here are a few:
Greaves Cotton: The Mumbai-based Thapar Brij Mohan group firm’s businessdivisions comprise agricultural equipments, automotives, auxiliary power, constructionequipments and industrial engines. It does not consume cotton or produce textilesas indicated by the name.
IL&FS Transportation Networks: The Mumbai-based turnkey engineering servicesprovider is one of the country’s largest private sector build-operate-and-transferdevelopers and operator of national and state highways. However, the company is not intothe logistics or telecom sector, as its name suggests.
Phoenix Mills: The Mumbai-based company is a leading developer and operator oflarge-format retail-outlets in city-centric location. Its operations generally span mostaspects of real estate development from planning, execution and marketing of projects tomanagement and operation of the completed development. The century-old company beganoperations as a textile manufacturing company in Mumbai but is still to change its name toreflect the existing realty business.
SOURECE : CAPITALMARKET
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