Date:22/10/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/10/22/stories/2005102202811500.htm

Back SBI MF hikes stake in Crompton Greaves

Our Bureau

Kolkata , Oct. 21

SBI Mutual Fund has acquired 1.25 lakh shares of Crompton Greaves Ltd from the market, accounting for 0.24 per cent of the company's paid-up equity.

The acquisition has been carried out through various schemes managed by SBI MF. The fund has informed NSE that its holding in Crompton Greaves stands at about 5.1 per cent after the latest move.

The buying of more Crompton Greaves shares is expected to add further value to the portfolios, it is pointed out. Among the schemes that have held the stock in recent times are Magnum Multiplier Plus, Magnum Emerging Businesses, Magnum Contra, Magnum Midcap and Magnum Global.

"Crompton Greaves is in a number of pertinent businesses," an SBI MF source pointed out, while particularly referring to the company's recent acquisition of a Rs 1,500-crore turnover transformer manufacturer based in Belgium.

Magnum Multiplier Plus, which traces its origin to the early 1990s, has Crompton Greaves as its top holding, accounting for 8.68 per cent of its net assets as on September 30, followed by Thermax and i-flex. The fund, which maintains a diversified portfolio comprising, inter alia, auto, engineering and construction stocks, has provided 87 per cent to investors in the last one year, while its three-year returns stood at 64.25 per cent.

The more recently launched Magnum Midcap features Crompton Greaves as its third-largest holding, making up 5.87 per cent of the net assets, preceded by Thermax and IVRCL Infrastructure. The stock's contribution to the portfolios of the other schemes - Emerging Businesses, Contra and Global - was 5.24 per cent, 4.19 per cent and 4.34 per cent respectively. These figures all pertain to September 30.

The counter on Friday ended at Rs 645.90 on the NSE, after reaching the day's high at Rs 661. The closing price represented a 0.46 per cent decline from the previous day's close. A total of 55,566 shares were traded. The stock's 52-week high and low are Rs 699 and Rs 215 respectively.

Data provided by the NSE indicate that institutional investors held 36.88 per cent in Crompton Greaves as on June 30. MFs accounted for a bulk of this - 23.37 per cent. These included HDFC MF (9.29 per cent) and Reliance MF (3.78 per cent). Others such as SBI MF, Birla Sunlife MF, Principal MF and Tata MF had smaller holdings.

It may be mentioned here that the stock was in news mid-August, due to Fidelity Investments picking up a modest 40,000 shares of the company.