Deccan Chronicle Holdings Moves North The Scrip - Nov 10, 2008

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 337.37 points, or 3.39%, to 10301.81.On BSE, 6.43 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 96,512 shares in the past one quarter.The stock hit a high of Rs 55.50 and a low of Rs 46 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 270.10 on 4 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 37.50 on 27 October 2008.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 7 November 2008, declining 37.72% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 14.80%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 61.44% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 34.09%.

The mid-cap newspaper publisher has an equity capital of Rs 48.98 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

The current price of Rs 53.75 discounts its Q2 September 2008 annualised EPS of Rs 7.39, by a PE multiple of 7.27.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings has reportedly formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, The Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures, to lend greater focus and attention to sporting activities. The new unit is investing fresh capital in Deccan Chargers, the IPL cricket team.

BCCI-IPL have already approved the transfer of the franchise rights for the Hyderabad team to the new company.

Meanwhile, the board of the new company has been strengthened with the appointment of philanthropist, eminent educationist, and avid cricket watcher V Shankar as the Chairman. Robin Singh, the erstwhile coach of the Hyderabad-team has been replaced by former Australian player Darren Lehmann.

Earlier some reports suggested the company was looking to sell its entire 80% stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL)'s Hyderabad cricket team in the range of $175 million (Rs 840 crore) and $200 million (Rs 960 crore). The report quoted an unnamed source as saying that four to five interested parties have been identified by the company.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings' net profit slipped 45.2% to Rs 45.27 crore on a 20.6 % rise in sales to Rs 226.43 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.

Hyderabad-based Deccan Chronicle Holdings publishes English and Telugu dailies, with its largest sales in Hyderabad.