Street signs: Big investors getting into HFCL

Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL) seems to be attracting big investors. According to stock market sources, Boston-based fund manager Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo (GMO) and some leading domestic investors have bought this stock in the past week, with the former taking a stake of about one per cent in it.

The stock hit the upper circuit twice last week. HFCL is a telecom infrastructure company which specialises in telecom equipment and optical fibre cables.

Joydeep Ghosh

Dividends make a difference

To improve transparency, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is urging fund houses to benchmark their equity schemes to the Total Return Index (TRI), which also factors in dividends. Benchmarking to the Price Return Index (PRI) helps funds show better outperformance. PRI doesn’t include dividend income but fund performance does. In some cases, it makes a huge difference. The classic example is Coal India, part of the benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices. On a price-return basis, the stock is up only four per cent over its 2010 initial public offer price. Since listing, the company has paid dividend of Rs 125 per share. Hence, its total returns works out to 55 per cent. At least two fund houses have announced TRI benchmarking and there is pressure on others to follow.  

Samie Modak

Positive signal from Talwalkars 

Talwalkars Better Value Fitness has made a preferential allotment of Rs 22 crore to its promoters at Rs 318 per share, a 10 per cent premium to the market price. The move, brokers say, sends a positive signal. “Shares are up nearly 40 per cent since March. Despite that promoters are increasing their stake at a premium. It shows they are confident about the business prospects,” said a broker.

Samie Modak