Take for instance, Nagarjuna Fertiliser which is a A group company. With a dividend of Rs 2 on the current market price of Rs 15.6, the yield works out to a whopping 38.46 per cent. Or, TN Petroproducts where return is an exciting 37 per cent.

Although there are a number of lesser-known companies with higher dividend yields, some investors might not be comfortable investing in these lesser known companies.

Thus, out of a list of 82 companies which are currently going cum-dividend and are providing a yield of more than 12 per cent, we have selected only a handful of companies. These companies have been shortlisted on the basis of their past performance,management, liquidity and future outlook. In the list of 14 shortlisted companies, six belong to Group A of the Bombay Stock Exchange. Thus, entering and exiting these scrips should not be difficult.

Among Group A scrips, Nagarjuna Fertiliser is giving the highest return of over 38 per cent. The scrip is trading at Rs 15.6 and the company's board has decided to pay Rs 2 per share for fiscal 1999. Interestingly, four of Tata group companies are featuring in the list of high yields, namely, Tata Chemicals, Asian Coffee, Andhra Valley and Tata Hydro Power. Tata Chemicals is currently trading at a PE of 6.3 times at Rs 63 and the company has declared a dividend of 50 per cent for its shareholders.

Others scrips like Bombay Dyeing and Tamil Nadu Petroproducts are also good bets. Bombay Dyeing, since the announcment of a dividend of Rs 3 on May 30, has been hitting the upper band of the circuit breaker. Not only the yield of nearly 22 per cent is attractive but the company's profitability in future is likely toimprove as its product prices have started moving up.

Interestingly, many tea companies feature in the high yield table. Of these we have shortlisted only three namely--Asian Coffee, Bishnauth Tea and George Williamson. Asian Coffee and Coffee Lands will be soon merged with Consolidated Coffee, a 52.4 subsidiary of Tata Tea. Once the merger is approved, it could become a leading player in the coffee market in entire Asia.

Among the cash group there are many cases which are not only attractive but have a potential to appreciate in near future. Vardhman Polytex is one such company. The Vardhman group company enjoys a strong market position in the cotton hosiery yarn business. The scrip is currently trading at Rs 29 and the company's board has decided to pay Rs 4 per share for fiscal 1999 to its shareholders. With nearly 25 per cent drop in the cotton prices, the main raw material for the company, profitability of the company should improve in the future. The scrip is currently trading at a low PE multipleof 3.8 times its fiscal 1999 earnings.

Another good bet is Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited. The scrip is changing hands at Rs 30.8 and enjoys a low PE of 2.6 times. Belonging to the Ambani group, the company is paying 30 per cent dividend to its shareholders. The yield works out to be 29.2 per cent per annum.

There is one instance where the yield works out to as high as 98 per cent. Take a look at Jenburkt Pharma which is currently changing hands at Rs 6.1 and the company's board has declared a dividend of 20 per cent for fiscal 1999. The company's books will be closed from July 15-20 on account of dividend. Thus, if you buy 1000 shares of the company, you will have to invest Rs 6,100 plus brokerage, send shares for transfer to the company and by July-end, you recieve your dividend amount of Rs 2,000. Even if the scrip falls by 20 per cent, you can still fetch Rs 4,880 by selling 1000 shares. Thus, by mid August i.e., in around two months' time, your wallet would be fatter by Rs 700 and youcould alo benefit from any appreciation in the price of the stock.