Delink, For Now

D-Link has performed better than its peers in the hardware industry, but the stock looks fully priced

The Rs 165 crore D-Link (India), promoted by D-Link Corporation, Taiwan and an Indian technocrat K.R Naik, has been one of the surprise gainers in the recent rally at the bourses. Inspite of announcing a tepid revenue growth of 4.05 per cent to Rs 83.32 crore during the first half of this fiscal, the scrip has moved up sharply from Rs 220 to touch Rs 325 in the past one and half month. The bottomline actually declined by 8.68 per cent to Rs 10.12 crore, down from Rs 11.08 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Although the performance during the first half of this fiscal has been much lower than the 100 per cent topline growth posted in the last fiscal ended March 2001, D-Link has the distinction of being one of the rare computer hardware and networking products companies which have been able to show positive growth in the prevailing tough market conditions.

While comparable companies like Zenith Computers, MRO-Tek, HCL Infosystems reported a decline in both revenues and profits, D-Link