This company has gone public on 4th August 2008 and had issued shares at an unbelievable Rs.196 per share. That was the time when the stock markets were booming and anything and everything could sell. But this in the aftermath of the shakeout, it are the losses of such companies which make one rethink about IPOs, even when priced rightly. Today, Austral is at around Rs.6 and its 52-week high was at Rs.57.40, touched on 25th Aug 09'.

The company declared its results for FY10 and in Q4FY10, it posted a net loss of Rs.27.18 crore. And it ended FY10 with a net loss of Rs.4.71 crore. Shockingly, despite the net loss, the BSE website has shown an EPS of Rs.9.36 for Q4 and Rs.1.62 for FY10. What is even more surprising is that it has equal numbers of buyers and sellers. This is purely an operator driven stock. There was also an enquiry initiated by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) into the alleged financial irregularities by Austral Coke, citing fund diversion, manipulation of accounts and tax evasion. Be it operator driven or speculator driven, stay away as you could get trapped.