Sahara cos stocks rebound after early losses

Stocks of listed Sahara companies fell during trading on Thursday but recovered to close in the green. While the Sahara HousingFina Corporation stock plunged 19.11% to a 52-week low of Rs 44, it ended the day with a 0.18% gain. Similarly, the Sahara One Media and Entertainment stock, which declined 4.81% intra-day to a 52-week low of Rs 82.1, gained nearly 5% at the close.

The two listed companies from the Sahara stable don’t add up to much in value compared to the huge financial muscle that the group enjoys. Sahara One and Sahara HousingFina had a combined market capitalization of Rs 233 crore (based on their closing prices on BSE on Thursday).

The value of promoters’ stake in these companies stood at Rs 173.3 crore. “Listed companies from the Sahara group have an insignificant presence in the market. So, there would not be much in terms of material impact,” says Kishor P Ostwal, managing director, CNI Research, an equities research provider. Revenues and profits from the listed companies are also miniscule compared to the size of the Sahara group. Sahara One reported revenues of Rs 45.57 crore and a net profit of Rs 1.45 crore in October-December. It had revenues of only Rs 110 crore in 2011-12.

Sahara HousingFina had revenues of a mere Rs. 4.87 crore in October-December and net profit of just Rs 49.35 lakh. It had revenues of only Rs 19.77 crore in 2011-12. Though there have been rumours of a sell-out in a few equity schemes managed by the Sahara mutual fund (MF), its assets under management (AUM) are too small to offer any succour to the parent group.
COURTESY:
M Allirajan TNN
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