The aggregate market capitalisation of BSE-listed central PSUs rose by Rs 19,118 crore,or 1.5%,to Rs 12.93 lakh crore in the 12-month period to June 2,2010. Though some of the 36 listed undertakings did extremely wellHindustan Copper alone created close to Rs 19,700 crore extra wealth for investorswealth destruction by some large companiesespecially NMDC,which left investors poorer by Rs 63,157 croreshrank the combined net addition. The combined share of the 36 PSUs in aggregate BSE M-cap declined from 25.85% to 21.46%,reflecting their relative under-performance vis-a-vis private firms. Also,the BSE-PSU Index,which went up 7.2%,underperformed the Sensex by a wide margin; the Sensex rose 12.5% during the study period. In the latest four quarters (one year),the net profit of these PSUs had risen 18.2% to Rs 63,562 crore--the rate of growth was higher than most private sector firms'. The average price-to-earning (P/E) ratio of the PSUs fell to 20.35 from 23.69 during the one-year period to June 2,2010. The highest rise in P/E ratio was observed for Nalco,from 17.64 to 32.98. Kishor P Ostwal,CMD,CNI Research,says,PSU stocks generally invoke response only ahead of FPOs. ONGC,numero uno in market capitalisation among PSUs,retained the place during the study period,gaining Rs 3,251 crore more in market value. But its P/E ratio decreased from 15.48 to 15.08. NMDC slipped to the fourth slot from third. Its P/E fell from 39.32 to 31.34. NTPC was placed second in the order,though its M-cap decreased by Rs 21,809 crore,and PE ratio declined to 18.66 from 22.52. A significant increase in M-cap was seen in Engineers India,BEML,Hindustan Copper,STC,SAIL,Bharat Electronics,National Fertilisers and Indraprastha Gas. The M-cap of Engineers India increased 153.4% to Rs 11,385 crore. Out of 36 central PSUs,11 registered a decline in their market capitalisation.
