Pentafour Clocks Meek Recovery

After witnessing a consistent downward trend on the first three trading sessions of the week, the Pentafour Software scrip staged a modest recovery towards the end of the week.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the scrip closed at Rs 648.25, a loss of Rs 216 over the previous week's close. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the stock lost Rs 236.60 during the week to close at Rs 633.45.

On the first two trading sessions of the week, when the sensex crashed by 157 points, the counter was among the worst affected, touching the lower end of the circuit filter on sustained selling pressure.

Foreign funds, too, were regular sellers at the counters, which furthered depressed prices. However on the last two trading sessions, there was some sporadic buying at the counter, though it could not be confirmed whether it was by institutions.

"The sharp dip in prices has been more on account of sustained selling pressure from foreign funds. This is creating a panic among smaller investors, who in turn are trying to exit from the counter at available prices," said a dealer at an institutional brokerage. "The scrip looks attractive at the current levels both in terms of valuations as well as fundamentals. Even in case of a rupee depreciation the company stands to benefit immensely as exports account for most of the income," he adds. For the year ended March 1998, the company has recorded a net profit of Rs 68.37, nearly 50 per cent higher than that for the previous financial year.

Turnover grew by 67.17 per cent over the previous year to Rs 284.56 crore. Out of the total revenues, 95.49 per cent comprised of exports and balance was from domestic sales.

The company has opened offices in Malaysia, Australia, Japan, Kenya and is planning to open more in the US, Middle East and Mainland Europe in the coming year. The company also has plans to have development and training centres in the overseas offices over the next few years.

Among the significant achievements by the company during the year was, bagging the sectoral award given by the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), Government of India. It also opened an office in Hollywood to offer multimedia services for the entertainment industry.

For the coming year, the company plans to consolidate itself in the existing lines of business, with special focus on multimedia activities.