Heard on the Street: R-Infra gains on Buyback offer

R-Infra gains on Buyback offer

Reliance Infrastructure outperformed the broader market as the sentiment turned positive after the company commenced its Rs 1,000-crore buyback offer on Monday. There was a procedural delay in the offer, which was scheduled to open on April 5. The stock was up 1% at Rs 683.5 against a 1% fall in the Sensex. Nearly six lakh shares changed hands, compared with the two-week average of 4.2 lakh shares on the BSE.

The buyback offer, according to brokers, is expected to reduce the volatility in the stock, which is currently trading 50% below its peak value in June last year. This is the fourth time the company is buying back shares from its shareholders, after it spent Rs 923 crore in the previous three offers.

Investors bet big on Marico

Despite a weak market, there was good buying in the Marico counter as analysts bet high on the FMCG major’s prospects citing healthy new product pipeline and its dominant position in core categories of copra and refined edible oil. There are, however, concerns that the sharp rise in prices of copra and other raw materials may put pressure on margins. Domestic brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher expects Marico’s top line to improve 18% and bottom line to grow 31% in 2010-11. Shares of Marico climbed 7% to . 147.8 on the back of significantly higher volumes.

Contributed by Vijay Gurav