Personal care and wellness company VLCC Health Care on Thursday filed its draft proposal with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for a R400-crore-plus initial public offering, making it the 29th company to file draft papers with the market regulator this calendar year.

The issue comprises fresh shares worth R400 crore and an offer for sale of 37.7 lakh shares by existing shareholders Indivision India Partners and Leon International. The company intends to raise R100 crore in a pre-IPO placement.
Delhi-based VLCC plans to use the proceeds to fund its expansion in the domestic and international markets.

Some portion of fund-raising will also be used to pay existing corporate loans. ICICI Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India and Axis Capital are advising VLCC on the primary market deal.

Merchant bankers said companies are confident of tapping primary market and continue to queue up despite volatile conditions prevailing in the secondary markets.

In the last one month, four companies, Matrimonial.com, Teamlease Services, Alkem Labs and Dr Lal Path Labs, have filed draft prospectus with Sebi and plan to raise of total of over R1,000 crore.

So far, 15 companies have tapped the primary markets in CY15, raising close to R6,500 crore, which is the highest in the last three years.

Experts said they expect more activity on the primary market front in the months to come as they believe that
the India growth story has not derailed.

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) shares gained as much as 8.7 per cent intra-day on Thursday after the company informed BSE that it has bagged a Rs 1,783.42-crore contract from NHAI for construction of a highway in Jammu & Kashmir. (Photo: Reuters)

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) shares gained as much as 8.7 per cent intra-day on Thursday after the company informed BSE that it has bagged a Rs 1,783.42-crore contract from NHAI for construction of a highway in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

At 1.28 pm, HCC shares were trading 3.08 per cent higher at Rs 18.40 apiece. The scrip opened at Rs 18 and had touched a high and low of Rs 19.40 and Rs 17.90, respectively, in trade so far. Sensex was down 0.17 per cent at 25,778.48.

“The company has been awarded a prestigious NHAI contract worth Rs 1,783.42 crore to construct a 36-km highway, which includes 3 kms of tunnels between Ramban and Banihal in Jammu & Kashmir,” Hindustan Construction Company said in a BSE filing.

For the quarter ended June 2015, the company posted net profit of Rs 8.02 crore, down 70.41 per cent, against Rs 27.10 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

In the past one year, HCC shares fell 51.49 per cent to Rs 17.85 on September 23. Sensex lost 3.56 per cent during the same period.

NIIT shares gained over 4 per cent in the morning trade on Thursday following the company’s plan to establish European Delivery Centre in Dublin, creating 110 jobs over five years. (Express Photo)

NIIT shares gained over 4 per cent in the morning trade on Thursday following the company’s plan to establish European Delivery Centre in Dublin, creating 110 jobs over five years. The development is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA (Industrial Development Agency) Ireland.

At 10.47 am, NIIT shares were trading 4.75 per cent up at Rs 72.75. The scrip opened at Rs 69.45 and had touched a high and low of Rs 74 and Rs 68.30, in trade so far. Sensex was down 0.30 per cent at 25,746.48.

On Wednesday, September 23, the Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny said in a joint press statement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “ I also welcome the NIIT company here to Ireland with a 110 jobs, with the IDA working strongly in terms of foreign direct investment here.”

The publicly listed company, which was established in 1981 and is headquartered in Gurgaon, India, employs about 3,000 people in over 40 countries with primary locations in India, the United States, Europe and China. The focus of this announcement is NIIT’s Corporate Learning Group (CLG) which delivers comprehensive managed training services including Custom Curriculum Design and Content Development, Learning Administration, Learning Delivery, Strategic Sourcing, Learning Technlogy and Advisory Services.

Ireland was chosen as the location for the new European Delivery Centre due to the availability of suitable creative and technical talent and multilingual skills, the cluster of existing learning technology companies, and open business environment.

In a BSE filing, the company said, “The new roles will include high-end engineers, creative writers and digital media professionals. Other roles will be for trainers, multilingual customer service support and project managers. Applicant can email careers.ireland@niit.com for further information on these positions.”

For the quarter ended June 2015, NIIT Ltd posted net loss of Rs 5.91 crore against net loss of Rs 5.90 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Stocks in focus: NTPC shares will be in focus after its Rs 700-crore public issue of tax-free bonds was oversubscribed by 11.04 times on the first day of opening on Wednesday.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened on a flat note on Thursday ahead of September F&O series that will expire later in the day. At 9.39 am, Sensex was down 51.81 points at 25,771.18. Similarly, Nifty was down 13.40 points at 7,832.55 during the same time.

Stocks that are likely to be in focus today

Balmer Lawrie & Company: The company shares will be in focus after it informed stock exchanges on Wednesday (post market hours) that it will be investing Rs 400 crore in its logistics infrastructure business in the next 24-36 months. The company will be setting up Multi-modal Logistics Hub at Vizag, a project under the MoU signed with Visakhapatnam Port Trust.

NTPC: The shares of state-run company will be in focus after its Rs 700-crore public issue of tax-free bonds was oversubscribed by 11.04 times on the first day of opening on Wednesday.

Coal India: Coal India Ltd, which had estimated a capital expenditure of Rs 60,000 crore to ramp up production to 908 million tonnes, may have to revise it in view of the proposed Land Acquisition Bill. “The current estimate of total capex is Rs 60,000 crore over the next five years. But it may get revised due to Land Acquisition Bill,” Coal India chairman Sutirtha Bhattacharya said at the CIL AGM.

Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCI): The company has received an investment approval for ‘North Eastern Strengthening Scheme-III (NERSS-III)’ at an estimated cost of Rs 133.71 crore, with commissioning schedule of 27 months from the date of investment approval. The board of directors at their meeting held on September 15, 2015 has approved for the same.

Larsen and Toubro: The shares of the company were trading 1.48 per cent down in early trade on Thursday after company’s chairman AM Naik said that the industrial group is looking to sell some assets including roads and infrastructure projects and dilute its stake in non-core subsidiaries to revive performance.