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Good old days

Sesa Sterlite, one of the 30 Sensex stocks, has sprinted since the year began


The feel-good factor on the Street seems to be having a rub-off effect. Sesa Sterlite, one of the 30 Sensex stocks, has sprinted since the year began. The stock of the Vedanta-owned metals-to-mining major is up 36% for the year — against 16% for the benchmark — after staying largely unchanged for FY13. While the change in government has acted as a booster, SC’s go-ahead for mining in Goa, where Sesa operates a 11 mtpa mine, too, has helped. A corollary to that is evident in the way promoter Anil Agarwal is buying stake from the open market. Group firm Twin Star Holdings has bought 2.68 crore shares at a price of ₹275 a share in two tranches, ramping up its stake in the natural resources major to 43.06%. The promoters currently hold 55% in the firm, which enjoys a market cap of ₹83,000 crore. Sesa, which completed its merger with Sterlite Industries in August 2013, has a consolidated debt-equity ratio of 0.8:1 times. Analysts are bullish on the stock given its diverse holdings across HZL, Balco and Cairn India and its core mining business. Little wonder, then, that Agarwal wants to make the most of the good times ahead.