DLF shares hit all-time low before recovering

Following the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) barring DLF’s promoters from capital markets, the company stock fell to its all-time low on Thursday. Subsequently, the shares gained, as traders recovered short positions.

On Thursday, the stock closed at Rs 110.35 on the BSE, up 5.2 per cent, after falling to Rs 100.1 in intra-day trade, down 4.6 per cent from its previous close. The BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty benchmarks closed down 1.3 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.

On Monday, Sebi had barred six of the company senior executives, including Chairman K P Singh, from accessing the capital market for three years, after it was found the company had not made adequate disclosures in its offer document during its initial public offering in 2007.

Since Monday, the stock has retreated 27.5 per cent. Analysts said the stock was unlikely to see any upsides in the short term, as the outlook for it had turned negative. “Promises of a turnaround made earlier have now turned meaningless because the company is in no position to raise funds. Investors and funds will now look to reduce exposure in the stock,” said Vivek Mahajan, head of research, Aditya Birla Money.

Following the Sebi order, brokerage houses scaled down their target price for the stock, though stock ratings remained unchanged. There is no consensus on the expected fall in the stock, as analysts believe along with regulatory concerns, poor demand and stubbornly high interest could also be drags.

“A weak demand environment and regulatory issues remain key downside risks, while faster correction in interest rates is a key upside risk,” said a Barclay Equity Research report on the DLF stock. The report, authored by analyst Saurabh Mishra, added the Sebi order might impact DLF’s plans to convert its compulsorily convertible preference shares.

In a report, Edelweiss Securities maintained its ‘buy’ rating on the stock, but said concern about regulatory issues could cap upsides. “This is the third negative legal development for DLF in the past two months, post the cancellation of the Wazirabad land allocation and the CCI (Competition Commission of India)’s penalty payment order of Rs 630 crore. While we currently have a ‘buy’ on DLF, based on valuations, we believe the stock will come under pressure, given successive legal/regulatory setbacks,” said the report, by analysts Aashiesh Agarwaal and Akshay Rao.