The shares of (India) may be up 50 per cent from the low of Rs 518 in the month of December, but there is room for further upside. The stock has gained the Street&rsquo;s attention after talk of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) getting listed in the current month got louder.

Gains for FT in MCX IPO

Business Standard

Markets have had a surprising rally in 2012 and sentiments have also turned positive, with many suggesting the start of a new bull market. Against this background, Vishal Chhabria and Jitendra Kumar Gupta spoke to Ramesh Damani, member of the Bombay Stock Exchange, for his views for a variety of subjects, including what&rsquo;s in store for the rest of the year.

Early signs suggest onset of bull market: Ramesh Damani

Aban Offshore, whose share price was languishing for quite some time, is up almost 50 per cent over the past month. The news of Goldman Sachs picking shares of Aban worth Rs 22 crore from the open market has also rubbed off positively on the stock. The increasing market interest can partly be attributed to emerging stability in the business, since the downturn after the 2008 global crisis.

Early signs of recovery for Aban

Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra), whose stock underperformed the broader markets for most of 2011, has seen a spurt in activity at the counter. While the change in sentiment is akin to other infrastructure-related stocks, there are other factors as well, that point to an improvement in company prospects.

R-Infra is clearly gaining ground

Suzlon Energy's plan of turning around may take some more time to materialise. This can be attributed to the resurfacing of execution issues and the lowering of revenue and margin guidance by the management. Earlier, the management had given a revuene guidance of Rs 24,000-26,000 crore and Ebit margin of seven-eight per cent for FY12, which have been revised to Rs 21,000-22,000 crore and five-six per cent, respectively, post-December quarter results on Saturday.

Turnaround delayed

In last nine years, SAIL's saleable steel volumes may have remained in the region of 11 million tonne, but all this is set to change. With its Rs 70,000 crore expansion plan under implementation, the company&rsquo;s capacity is expected to nearly double to 24.6 million tonne. The expansion projects are expected to get commissioned in phases starting the fourth quarter of 2012 and complete by 2014. In this context, the next two years will be crucial as the benefits of this will be reflected both in the revenues and profitability.

Volume gains to propel SAIL into new trajectory

While commissioning of expansion projects will boost growth rates FY13 onwards, stock valuations are also attractive.

Volume gains to propel SAIL's growth

IVRCL has seen an erosion of 70 per cent, or Rs 2,500 crore, in its market capitalisation since January 2011, though it got some respite recently, led by an improvement in overall market sentiment. It has been in the news for plans to sell stake in infrastructure assets, monetise its land bank, merge listed subsidiary IVRCL Assets &amp; Holdings with itself and, more recently, order wins.

Lowering debt is a key for IVRCL

Sterlite Industries&rsquo; stock, which had nearly halved over five months to Rs 85 in mid-December, has risen 24 per cent so far in 2012 on the back of a 9-12 per cent rise in metal prices. The decent December quarter numbers, which Sterlite announced on Monday, has only helped the stock stand out; it gained 3.1 per cent versus the Sensex&rsquo;s 1.46 per cent.

Capacity expansions key for Sterlite

Lanco Infratech&rsquo;s share price has appreciated almost 60 per cent in the last one month, partly driven by news that the company was planning to rope in private equity funding.

Hopes of revival

As the awarding of projects in the road sector gathers steam and sanity returns among players, share prices of companies like IRB Infrastructure Developers have rebounded in the recent past. IRB&rsquo;s shares, for instance, rose almost 35 per cent from a low of Rs 125 in January. Considering the expected turnaround in the industry, IRB&rsquo;s current valuations, and the strong revenue and earnings visibility, its stock could continue to perform well in the coming months.

Growth prospects improving for IRB Infra Developers

The share price of Alfa Laval (India) was trading at about Rs 1,500 in August last year, when news of a possible delisting offer cropped up; the official announcement came mid-September. Since then, in just four months, the share price has risen sharply and is now a shade below the indicative delisting offer price of Rs 2,850 per share.

Jitendra Kumar Gupta