Few Stock Reviews from a Newsletter....

IFCI (NSE/BSE: 500106 Rs.35.10) A Dark Horse about to unlock the hidden values

After many years of being in the red, term lending institution IFCI is on the verge of announcing a major turnaround with a profit of around Rs 1,000 crore for financial year 2006-07. At the current price of rs.35 it has immense potentiality for higher than any imaginable appreciation.

The management has already been roped the Consultant firm Ernst & Young to find a strategic partner for the company, a process that would take at least two months time, official sources said. Several global financial majors like Citigroup and Barclays have expressed interest. The stake is likely to go to a company which can help IFCI to scale greater heights.

Till December 2006, IFCI had a net profit of Rs 229 crore. In the January-March quarter of 2007, the company raked in Rs 800 crore from a seven per cent stake sale in the National Stock Exchange and about Rs 30 crore by divesting its entire stake in ICRA. About Rs 200 crore of non performing assets are also understood to have been recovered in the last quarter of 2006-07. The market expectation is the profit will be more than Rs 1,000 crore in 2006-07.

IFCI had made a loss of Rs 74 crore in 2005-06 and Rs 324 crore in 2004-05. According to the data available on the Bombay Stock Exchange, IFCI has been losing money since 2000-01. The company's accumulated losses stood at Rs 4,600 crore till March 31, 2006. Out of that the company has made recoveries of Rs 1,000 crore in 2006-07. The company has made loan and other recoveries of about 1100 crore in 2006-07. The aggregate recovery of Rs 2,100 crore is higher than the target of Rs 2,000 crore set for 2006-07.

The accumulated losses will be wiped out very soon as the company has hidden unlocked values in its investments, which can generate Rs 6,000 crore cash anytime. The company has immediate realizable investment of Rs 2,000 crore

The sudden realization that IFCI is turning black has led to a 135 per cent increase in the share price - to Rs 33 as on March 30 from Rs 14 as on January 8, 2007.

IFCI is in the process of selling Malavika Steel Plant, estimated to fetch close to Rs 600 crore. The 750 acres of land of the Malavika Steel at Sultanpur (UP) can fetch it around Rs 800 crore at the lower end and Rs 2000 crore at the higher end.

Similarly, the company is in the process of selling the land, building, plant and machinery of Hitech Electro Thermics & Hydro Power Ltd. All these will materialize in the early part of 2007-08. IFCI is also understood to have very attractive real estates, which is worth Rs 1,000 crore.

ATLANTA: (BSE; 532759 Rs.268) Due to SEBI inquiry into some malpractices the shares of this co has fallen from a high of Rs.1450 to the current levels. With FII buying the shares it hit the 5% upper circuit today after remaining in the lower circuit for more than two weeks. The worst seems to be over and price is attractive.

Neo Sack Ltd (BSE: 523820. Rs.15.09) has informed BSE that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on April 09, 2007 to consider the following: 1. Forfeiture of shares 2. Future expansion plans. When the markets closed on Thursday there were orders to buy 3.80 lakh shares but there were no sellers .Share may move up in the coming days.

Speculative counters become hot again: WI Ship yard (BSE: 531217 Rs.6.69) If you buy around current levels exit around Rs, 9.50.