Heard on the street

Repro India goes on a long (s)print

Shares of publishing company Repro India gained around 20% over the past week on informed buying by some high networth individuals. There is talk that the company’s robust order book is the reason behind the sudden interest in the stock. Repro India’s officials when contacted declined to comment on the company’s growth trajectory. The company clocked an earnings per share (EPS) of Rs 15.76 for FY09, but only Rs 4.91 for the first half of the current financial year. Repro’s client list includes international companies such as McGraw Hill, Pearson, Longman, Oxford and Heinemann in educational publishing and Igloo, Arcturus, Beaver Books and Dalmatian in children’s book publishing. Analysts maintain that the company’s order book has been growing steadily ever since its printing unit in the Surat SEZ became operational a few months ago. A specialist in digitalised printing, its peer group include Archies, Navneet Publishing, and Infomedia 18 .

Winter of simmering discontent

The institutional sales and research officials of a New Delhi-based brokerage are a disgruntled lot. Many in these departments are believed to be looking for new employment opportunities outside the brokerage. People in the know attribute this to ‘internal politics’ played by a couple of senior officials there. Though the management has stepped in the control the damage — promoting one of the officials to head the brokerage’s Asia-Pacific region and asking the other to leave — a person familiar with the matter said it may be too late. A rival broker said he has already received resumes from employees of this firm, but is quick to add that he is not aware of any internal issues at that brokerage.

Choppy trades stump home-grown traders

The recent choppy trading sessions have made it difficult for even some of most astute traders to make money. These traders, who usually thrive on sharp gyrations, are believed to be finding it tough to get
going in this market, which has been moving back and forth in a matter of minutes. Market participants said these sharp movements have been mostly triggered by programmed trades of some foreign institutions, which have been using the ongoing confusion to earn some quick bucks. Recognising the strain in trading in such market conditions, the conventional traders are believed to be holding back for the moment, till this phase dies off.

Contributed by Deeptha Rajkumar and Nishanth Vasudevan