IL&FS' construction, investment arms defy market trend; surge up to 10%

Shares of two of IL&FS group companies Friday defied broader market sentiments and gained as much as 10 per cent on the bourses after the newly appointed board said it will take all necessary steps to preserve the value of the group.

The scrip of IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company touched its upper circuit limit of Rs 25.32, up 10 per cent over its previous closing price.

Shares of IL&FS Investment Managers also witnessed similar trend and jumped by 5 per cent to touch its upper circuit limit of Rs 10.39 on the BSE.

However, stocks of IL&FS Transportation Networks opened on a weak note and then lost further ground to trade at Rs 30.25, down 10 per cent over its last close.

The government-appointed board of crippled infra lender IL&FS group, which held a marathon five-hour meeting in New Delhi Thursday, said it will take all necessary steps to preserve the value of the group and its 348 subsidiaries.

It also said the board will meet regularly to draft roadmap for the future for the systematically important entity.

Uday Kotak Thursday, however, hinted that the crisis at the infra lending and engineering conglomerate is much more complex than earlier thought as the number of its subsidiaries and associates have more than doubled to 348, most of which have negative net worth.