Sail plunges below par

The company reported a sharp fall in net profit to Rs 48.53 crore from Rs 361.45 crore in the previous half. SAIL had to face additional costs to the tune of Rs 500 crore in the first half, besides a slump in demand for its products.

Meanwhile, a 100-point crash in the Sensex mid-session saw 13 scrips in Group A touching their 52-week low on BSE. While most of them recovered in the end to close marginally higher, a few closed at their respective lows. These include Ceat, Dabur India and Hindustan Motors.

Of these 13, three companies belong to the Tata Group namely Telco, Tisco and Voltas. All three companies had announced a drop in net profit for the first six months ended September 1997. Telco today touched a three-year low of Rs 271.75, although it closed marginally higher at Rs 274.25.

The counter saw high volumes of around 4.61 lakh shares. Tisco8217;s scrip fell below its psychological barrier of Rs 120 and touched a seven-year low of Rs 118, before recovering to close at Rs 120.25.