Chowgule Steam

This company is a part of the 92 years old Chowgule group of Goa but given the low fancy for the shipping sector and even lower fancy for this stock, it gets counted amongst penny stocks.  In terms of financial performance, the company had a ‘turnaround’ only because of the tax write back of Rs.3 crore. It Its loss before tax stood at Rs.2 crore and this was on a 68% fall in net sales, post operating costs of Rs.4 crore. It also had a loss on sale of vessel of Rs.42 lakh but this was nullified by forex gain of Rs.55 lakh. Thus despite having nothing to really write home about, a mere tax write back helped the company end the quarter with a net profit of Rs.74 lakh.

The only solace – it is debt free  and reserves stands at Rs.80 crore and its market cap is at Rs.74 crore. The company presently owns and operates a fleet of 5 vessels (including that of its wholly owned subsidiaries) for seaborne transportation of bulk cargoes. Promoter’s stake is at 678.6 % and it has been giving a consistent dividend of 10 to 15% since 2005. FIIs do not own a single share in the company.