Although the marketmen had already discounted a turnaround by Siemens, the announcement of a net profit of Rs 1.82 crore for the third-quarter ended June 30, 1999, saw the scrip zoom despite a 100 points drop in the Sensex. On Tuesday, the scrip gained by 7 per cent to close at Rs 287.55 as against Monday's close of Rs 268.45. The engineering major has reported a net profit of Rs 1.82 crore for the third-quarter ended June 1999 as against a loss of Rs 15.26 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The company has reduced its losses for the nine-months ended June 30 to Rs 3.82 crore from Rs 56.02 crore in the corresponding period last year. With a healthy order book position of Rs 31.64 crore, the company seems all set to come out of the red by the fiscal-end. Siemens' performance has improved substantially thanks to the economic revival and the restructuring activities undertaken by it. Improved demand saw the company's total turnover rise by 18 per cent to Rs206.82 crore in the third-quarter.

Contributors to the turnover were the projects, power transmission and distribution and standard products businesses. Siemens received new orders worth Rs 94.57 crore in the nine-months ended June 30 1999, compared with Rs 58.59 crore in the same period last year, showing a 61 per cent rise. The company's performance is in line with the market's expectations. Analyst expect the company's net to turn positive by the fiscal-end. But the overhang of equity dilution on account of Siemens forthcoming right's issue could restrict the rally in the stock. The stock is likely to hover in the range of Rs 270-300.

Market cheers Gabriel's net

Another turnaround case, that of Gabriel India, was also cheered by the market. The stock appreciated by 7 per cent from Rs 68 to Rs 73 on the news that the auto ancillary company had turned around the first quarter of 1999-2000. For the period ended June 30, 1999, the company earned a net profit of Rs 77 lakh as against a loss of Rs1.22 crore in April-June 1998-99. The improvement in performance is due to the increased sales of shock absorbers, front forks in the OEM and aftermarket segments.