No gain for HNIs in Mahanagar Gas listing

Despite healthy listing gains of about 23 per cent, high net worth individuals (HNIs) who took the financing route to subscribe to the Mahanagar Gas (MGL) initial public offering and book a profit on the first day would have made no gains. This is due to the high subscription levels and a spike in interest rates, as much as nine per cent, from brokers who lend to HNIs to invest, say experts. The portion reserved for HNIs was subscribed 191 times. After taking the interest cost and oversubscription into account, the cost of acquiring one share of MGL worked out to around Rs 560. MGL shares hit a high of Rs 549 on Friday, well below the break-even number, before closing at Rs 519.9 on the BSE.

Ashley Coutinho

Grey market bullish on L&T Infotech
The initial public offering of L&T Infotech, the information technology arm of diversified conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, is attracting a lot of attention in the grey market, and is trading at a premium of Rs 110-115 a share. Parent L&T is looking to sell 10.3 per cent stake through an offer for sale. The issue is priced in a band of Rs 705 to Rs 710 a share. However, analysts aren't too enthused about the issue, due to a non-differentiated business model and high dependence on a few clients.

Sheetal Agarwal

Fund managers worry about free-falling stocks
In the past month, the sharp fall in Mandhana Industries' share price has surprised many investors. The stock is down about 66 per cent, from Rs 303 to Rs 100.5 in just a month. Fund managers believe the market regulator should look into sudden movements of such stocks because it leaves investors high and dry. "Margin calls seem to have been triggered for investors who had kept these shares as collateral," said a fund manager.

Joydeep Ghosh