Nicholas Piramal's share eases by 3.5 pc

Mumbai, Jan 18 (UNI) Nicholas Piramal India Limited (NPIL) today declined by 3.50 per cent to Rs 337.80 at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on reporting 31 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 7.27 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31, 2007 over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Brokers said, ''The BSE Sensex was also down by 390.54 points or 1.98 per cent to 19,310.28. At BSE, 25,730 shares were traded at the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 1.01 lakh shares in the past one quarter.'' The stock hit a high of Rs 348 and a low of Rs 336 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 383 on December 19, 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 195.10 on March 7, 2007.

The mid-cap scrip had underperformed the market over the past one month till January 17, 2008, declining by 3.94 per cent compared to the Sensex's return of 3.19 per cent. It had outperformed the market in the past one quarter, rising by 24.91 per cent compared to Sensex's rise of 12.19 per cent.

The Company's current equity is Rs 41.80 crore and face value per share is Rs 2.

The current price of Rs 337.80 discounts second quarter ended on September 2007 annualized EPS of Rs 15.50 by a PE multiple of 21.79.

Nicholas Piramal India's total income has risen by 13 per cent to Rs 7.3 billion in the third quarter ended on December 31, 2007 over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

On December 19, 2007, NPIL entered into a joint venture with Arkay Piramal of Japan to market diagnostic products, mainly self-monitoring blood glucose systems in the Indian market.

UNI AR NM SM1814