ONGC slips to third position in m-cap ranking

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has slipped to the number three spot, in market capitalisation (m-cap) ranking, after stock dipped almost 3% on reports of a leakage at the company's Mumbai Uran Trunk (MUT) oil pipeline.

The company was at number two position for the last four years after the country's largest private sector company Reliance Industries (m-cap of Rs 323,100 crore) surpassed ONGC for the elite position in February 2007.

The country's largest information technology, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) surpassed the state-owned company to become the second most-valued company.

ONGC with m-cap of Rs 236,409 crore now stands at number three position behind TCS, which is currently ranked number two with a m-cap of Rs 237,213 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

ONGC closed lower by 2.6% at Rs 1,105, while TCS ended the day almost unchanged at Rs 1,212 on the NSE.

TCS has rallied more than 8% so far in week after the company reported better-than-expected net profit growth for the third quarter ended December, 2010. The company posted a net profit of Rs 2,370 crore, up 9% Q-o-Q against analyst growth expectations of 2-3% during the quarter.

ONGC, on the other hand, has declined more then 6% in last five trading sessions as compared with 1% gain in the benchmark index Sensex.

The company has diverted the oil and gas production from Mumbai High to the ICP-Heera Uran Trunk (HUT) pipeline after the leakage. Connected oil and gas wells are being closed for safety reasons. Due to these interim measures, a loss of 25,000 barrels is anticipated. The MUT currently pumps 2,12,000 bopd, ONGC said in a press release.

The crude oil major is likely to announce it's quarterly results on January 28. Further, ONGC had recently approved an interim dividend of Rs 32 per share. And the company's board had also declared 1:1 bonus issue and stock split in the ratio of 1:5. The record date for the same is still awaited.