Gtl Zooms 13% To Rs 138.20

Shares of GTL today leaped 13 per cent to Rs 138.20 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Traded volume was at 1.07 crore shares, the highest since December 26, 2000, in a single day, due to heavy speculative activity at the counter.

The stock has been witnessing hectic activity in recent months and has surged 165 per cent from a low of Rs 51.60 on October 8 to Rs 138.20.

The spurt in the price is despite a poor financial performance reported by the company for the second quarter ended September 2001 and also a warning issued by GTL that its performance in fiscal 2002 would result in a sharp drop in net profit due to the US slowdown.

Known to be a favourite of the K-10 fame stock broker, the stock has once again started witnessing speculative activity, dealers said.

"Traders and speculators have entered the stock in order to make quick gains," market sources said.

For the quarter ended September 30, GTL posted a 75.6 per cent drop in net profit to Rs 23.96 crore (Rs 98.18 crore) on a 35.40 per cent drop in sales to Rs 140.74 crore (Rs 217.96 crore).

The company had put the onus for its poor performance on the global economic slowdown which has affected the banking, finance, insurance, airline, telecom and other sectors resulting into lower demand from these sectors.

Further, the domestic market has also performed below expectations, resulting in projects getting postponed.

Formerly known as Global Tele-Systems, the company changed its name in September to GTL in order to reflect its global initiative to become a dominant player in its existing information technology and engineering services.

The company provides e-business solutions for corporates worldwide in the areas of enterprise network services, software and application services and network engineering.