Aptech scales new 52-week high; ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala buys 7 lakh shares

Shares of IT education company Aptech Ltd extended gains on Wednesday, having risen nearly 5 percent in early trade despite a sharp correction in the broader markets.

Intra-day, Aptech stock rose 4.8 percent to scale a new 52-week high of Rs 97.30 before trimming gains on profit taking to trade 2.1 percent higher at Rs 94.80 a share on BSE. On the other hand, the benchmark Sensex slumped 220 points, or 0.8 percent to trade at 27.864.81 on profit-taking.

Today’s gains comes on the back of a sharp rally on Tuesday when the stock vaulted 11.19 percent despite announcing a major drop in its June quarter earnings.

However, the extended upsurge in stock came after ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala bought 7 lakh shares of Aptech at an average price of Rs 91.62 a share.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2016, the global education and training company headquartered in Mumbai reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 0.46 crore, down 83.80 per cent, against Rs 2.84 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. However, consolidated net sales of the company jumped by 18.57 per cent year-on-year to Rs 57.92 crore during April-June 2016 quarter against Rs 48.85 crore in the same quarter last year.

The company’s consolidated operating profit of the company slid by 50.66 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2.99 crore during the quarter under review.

On a standalone basis, Aptech reported net loss of Rs 0.76 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 against net profit of Rs 1.69 crore in the same quarter last year. Standalone gross sales of the company slid by 8.04 percent year-on-year to Rs 16.71 crore. It had reported stanalone revenue of Rs 18.17 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Standalone operating profit of the company slid by 76.41 per cent year-on-year to Rs 0.92 crore during April-June 2016.