GAIL (India) soars on bonus issue buzz

GAIL (India) rose 7.77% to Rs 425 at 15:11 IST on BSE on reports the company will consider issuing bonus shares in two to three months.

On BSE, 5.51 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 4.54 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 436 and a low of Rs 388.55 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 555 on 1 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 254 on 14 March 2007.

The company’s current equity is Rs 845.65 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The current price of Rs 425 discounts its Q3 December 2007 annualised EPS of Rs 29.39 by a PE multiple of 14.46.

According to reports, the company has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 4,200 crore for the full year ending March 2009, up from Rs 2,300 crore this year.

GAIL India’s net profit declined 6.6% to Rs 621.32 crore on 1.8% fall in net sales to Rs 4298.33 crore in Q3 December 2007 over Q3 December 2006.

The company produces liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), distributes natural gas and processes petrochemicals.