Date:11/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/11/stories/2006011102911500.htm

Back Kale Consultants flies high on performance hopes

KALE Consultants, which is moving between Rs 97 and Rs 99 before announcement of the third quarter results, has appreciated by around 4 per cent in the last one week.

According to market sources, the expectation was that the company may repeat its impressive performance in the first-half compared to that in the same period of last year.

Mr Vipul Jain, CEO and MD of the company, told Business Line that the performance in terms of revenue and margin growth was "on track" and indicated that the improvement could be close to what was achieved in the first-half of the current fiscal.

The first-half PAT growth was 97 per cent, while the revenue growth was 31 per cent. He, however, pointed out that in the second-half of the previous fiscal, the company had reported improved growth creating a higher base for the current year.

In the third quarter of 2005-06, the company had bagged a major 5-year contract from British Midland Airways for revenue accounting solutions. Mr Jain said the positive effect of this order on revenue and profit would be partial this fiscal as Kale has initiated preparatory work for execution of the order.

The company also added a few more new clients during the last quarter with small orders. The current order book position was around Rs 3,000 crore to be serviced in the next four years and a number of contracts are in the pipeline, he added.

Zips ahead on consolidation talk

AUTOMOBILE Corporation of Goa, in which the Government of Goa has a minority stake of 8.22 per cent, is ruling firm on hopes that the company may shortly witness consolidation in holding by the main promoters - the Tata Group - and infusion of fresh capital.

The stock gained 18.27 per cent in the last one week at Tuesday's closing price of Rs 451.90. On January 5, the stock scaled its 52-week high of Rs 462.

The grapevine has it that Tatas may buy out the holding of the Goa Government and raise the promoters' stake to around 51 per cent. At present, the total promoters' shareholding is around 40 per cent, whereas the public holding is 43 per cent.

Jayanta Mallick