Thursday, November 20, 2008

Polaris Software Lab Softens On Citigroup Exit - Nov 20, 2008

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 437.05 points, or 4.98%, to 8331.21.On BSE, 1.67 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 3.40 lakh shares in the past one quarter.The stock hit a high of Rs 37 and a low of Rs 34.20 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 141.30 on 9 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 36 on 27 October 2008.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 19 November 2008, declining 13.51% as compared to the Sensex's 12.05% decline. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 64.67% as compared to the Sensex's fall of 39.67%.

The small-cap software services firm has an equity capital of Rs 49.33 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

The current price of Rs 35.10 discounts its Q2 September 2008 annualised EPS of Rs 12.15, by a PE multiple of 2.88.

Citigroup is reportedly in talks with two Indian and one US IT firms to sell its 40% stake in Polaris Software. Citigroup holds 22.88% directly and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Orbitech, owns another 20.45%. Collectively, Citi holds a little over 43% stake in Polaris. The potential buyers include IBM and Wipro and that TCS could also join the race.

As per reports, stake sale in Polaris is part of Citigroup's strategy to offload non-strategic assets to offset its sub-prime related losses.

Polaris Software Lab's net profit rose 57.7% to Rs 29.97 crore on a 12.4% rise in sales to Rs 300.32 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q1 June 2008.

Polaris Software Lab delivers customized software solutions and products in the domain of banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI).

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