Punj Lloyd shares plummet by 16 percent

Bangalore: Following the announcement of its quarterly results, the Punj Lloyd stock went down by over 16 percent. The company's net profit declined 52.4 percent to Rs. 41.88 crore in second quarter (Q2) this year, over the same quarter last year. The stock opened the day at Rs. 250, before falling by 16.47 percent or Rs. 42.90, to close at Rs. 217.65. The stock has a 52 week low of Rs. 66.65. In all 6,021,535 Punj Lloyd shares were traded in the market on Monday, with the current P/E ratio of the stock at 21.61. The 52 week stock price chart is on the left.

Punj Lloyd provides integrated design, engineering procurement construction (EPC) and project management services in the energy and infrastructure segments. The company operates in four segments: oil and gas, civil and infrastructure, petrochemicals and power. The Q2 results of Punj Lloyd were announced after the markets closed on Friday. The net sales of the company rose 18.6 percent to Rs. 1851.75 crore in Q2 2009 over the same quarter last year. On a consolidated basis, the net profit slipped 63.3 percent to Rs. 52.85 crore on a 1.7 percent decline in sales to Rs. 2876.44 crore in Q2 2009 compared to Q2 2008.

Out of the 23 analysts following the stock currently, the consensus recommendation is that the stock will outperform, with 11 analysts suggesting a buy rating on the stock. HDFC Top 200 Fund holds the highest number of Punj Lloyd shares, with 6,000,000 shares in its portfolio. Other stocks in the construction sector were also in the red, with Tantia Constructions going down by 6.02 percent and Sadbhav Engineering falling 4.98 percent.