With the NCLT directing Zee Entertainment to hold the EGM, Invesco’s move showed that it is not willing to give an inch to Punit Goenka and the current board of the company. While Invesco’s lawyers have told the NCLT that they never said they are against the proposed merger with Sony India, they have pointed to the lack of professionalism of the Zee Board to call the EGM as evidence of their slack corporate governance standards.
For investors, the development is concerning as it demonstrates the roadblocks ZEEL’s current board will face if it wants the Sony merger to happen. Shares of the company tumbled nearly 2 per cent as a result.
IOB a step closer
Indian Overseas Bank finally came out of the prompt corrective action of the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday and was greeted by investors with a 12 per cent jump in Thursday’s session. The exit from the PCA will come as a major victory for the government and the bank’s management after a harrowing last five years.
With the Center likely drawing up plans for the bank’s privatization going ahead, the exit from the PCA takes the lender a step closer to that goal.
IRB Infra surges
With India’s road construction sector looking bright and mobility reaching pre-pandemic levels, investors are enthusiastic about the prospects of IRB Infrastructure. The road sector company is up 22 per cent in September including today’s over 7 per cent jump.
Analysts have been positive about the company on improving financial position and expectations that road construction contracts are likely to surge in the second half of the current financial year as the government loosens its purse strings.
Graphite electrode makers slump
The overhangs on the steel sector are also worrying investors of graphite electrode makers, a key component at steel plants. Shares of Graphite Electrode and HEG sank 3 per cent each on concerns that a slowdown in demand in the export market for steel may also hurt these companies’ revenues.
Investors will hope that today’s move is nothing more than mere profit-booking given that money managers are still betting on a new capital expenditure cycle for the country, which ought to benefit electrode makers like Graphite India and HEG.
Tata Power continues higher
Shares of the Tata Group company have risen 14 per cent so far this week including today’s near 5 per cent rise as the stock is becoming a proxy for the revival of the power sector.
This week, power stocks have dominated the action in the stock market on the perception of government reforms turning around the sector’s fortunes. Tata Power, which is a major player in the power distribution game, is a direct beneficiary of the government’s proposed reforms.
