Ubs Warburg Picks Up 1.2% Stake In Moh

UBS Warburg, a leading foreign institutional investor (FII), is learnt to have picked up around 1.2 million equity shares of the Ahmedabad-based MOH Ltd from the open market for Rs 36 lakh over the past couple of months. This forms 1.2 per cent of MOH's capital comprising 10,00,27,000 equity shares.

A relatively unknown infotech company, MOH was recently in the news for successfully developing and launching an innovative technology - World on Phone (WoP) that enables those without a computer and Internet connectivity to access a range of Internet-based services through the touchtone phone or cellphone.

Confirming the development, MOH director Sunil Shah said, "The purchases made by UBS Warburg came to light from the statement of National Stock Depository Ltd (NSDL) as on October 5." As the face value of MOH Ltd's share is Rs 1 per share, the average purchase price for UBS Warburg, considering their total investment of Rs 36 lakh in 1.2 million shares, works out to Rs 3 a share.

Stock exchange records show that while hardly 750 MOH shares were traded on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on June 29, the number of MOH shares traded on September 29 was around 14.17 lakh.

Interestingly, the price movements of the shares elude logical explanation. MOH shares closed at Rs 5.35 on June 29 (shares traded were 750), at Rs 3.10 on July 19 (shares traded were 1,287), at 95 paise on August 31 (shares traded were 12,600), at Rs 2.30 on September 28 (shares traded were more than 14.17 lakh) and Rs 2.15 on October 5 (shares traded were 7,736).

When the company came out with its public issue in 1996, the face value of its share was Rs 10. In the third quarter of 2000-2001, MOH Ltd had changed the face value of its equity from Rs 10 to Rs 1 thereby increasing its capital base to 10,00,27,000 shares of Re 1 each. The promoters hold 33 per cent in the company and its shares are listed on the Mumbai and Ahmedabad stock exchanges.