However, unlike in the past, this time around, the turnarounds are not a hot favourite of the operators. That marketmen have been selective can be gauged from the fact that despite a stunning turnaround by some companies in the first-half of the current fiscal, they are facing the wrath of the bears.

Take for instance, SKF Bearing Limited. The company reported a net profit of Rs 40 lakh in the first six months of the current fiscal as against a loss of Rs 23.9 crore in the corresponding period last year. However, scrip has fallen to Rs 1043 after touching a high of Rs 1425 in August. A closer look at the company's performance in the second-quarter justifies the treatment stock is getting on the bourses. The company has, in fact, incurred a loss of Rs 3 crore in the second-quarter as against a profit of Rs 3.4 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

According to an analyst with a leading Mumbai-based foreign brokerage house, ``It is not difficult to stage a turnaround, what is difficult is sustaining that turnaround.'' Thus, it is not the positive bottomline, but the punters' perception of whether the company will continue to post a net profit or slip back into the red that directs the stock movement. Yet another reason for the step-motherly treatment of some of the recent turnarounds is that the change in their fortunes is because of external factors rather than the company's own doing.

One such example is Godrej Soaps. The company earned a net profit of Rs 49.8 crore against a loss of Rs 7.65 crore in the corresponding period last year thanks to the stake sale in Sara Lee. The second quarter income of Rs 278 crore included the profits from the sale sale of 18.42 lakh shares in Godrej Sara Lee amounting to Rs 50.93 crore. Because of this reason alone the stock which had zoomed to Rs 79 on expectations of a turnaround has now fallen to Rs 48.35.

However, there some lucky ones. The Hikal Chemicals scrip zoomed past the Rs 400-mark after the company announced its first-half results. The stock is now taking a breather at Rs 335. The company reported a net profit of Rs 7.6 crore for the first six month of fiscal 2000 compared with a net loss of Rs 2.74 crore in the corresponding period last year. The future bodes well due to the commissioning of its new plant at Taloja. However, the earlier plant at Mahad will continue to be a drag on the company. Hikal has a 100 per cent buy back agreement for Thiabendazole with Merck & Co, USA, for a period of 10 years. Hikal Chemicals is the sole manufacturer of the post-harvest fungicide thiabendazole (TBZ) in the country.

Another stock which have zoomed after announcing excellent results for the first-half is Ennore Foundaries. The stock zoomed from Rs 30 to Rs 54 in anticipation of a turnaround. However in the sluggish market, the stock has fallen to Rs 42.5 and is trading at a compelling valuation of 6 times. The company has posted a net profit of Rs 2.39 crore for the first-half of the current year. Ennore incurred a net loss of Rs 7.33 crore in the first-half of last year and a loss of Rs 11.34 crore in the full-year 1998-99. Ennore Foundaries supplies castings (mainly engine castings) to Ashok Leyland, TAFE, Mahindra & Mahindra, Simpson, Maruti and Hyundai.