Stock of this shipping company has zoomed nearly 250% in last four months- CSC JANKARI

Shares of Knowledge Marine and Engineering Works (KMEW) rose 5 percent to touch a fresh high of Rs 918 on the BSE amid heavy volume on Wednesday. The shipping company's stock has risen 16 percent in the past three trading days after its board approved a preference issue to investor Ashish Kachulia and others.

11:15 a.m.; KMEW was trading 2 percent higher at Rs 890 on a nearly three-fold increase in trading volume. Exchange data showed that 118,000 shares have been traded over the counter so far, compared to an average turnover of 31,000 shares on BSE over the past two weeks. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.19 percent at 61,989.

In the last five months, KMEW's share price has risen nearly 250 percent from the Rs 263 level. It has gained 740 percent in the past one year compared to the 2.8 percent rise in the Sensex.

KMEW's board on Monday approved the allotment of 565,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each to the company on a preferential basis at an issue price of Rs 700 per equity share, amounting to Rs 39.55 crore.

The board approved allotment of 200,000 shares to Ashish R. Kachulia and 30,000 shares to Vibhav R. Kachulia. The board has also approved the allotment of around 252,500 shares to Shrimati Vanja Sunder Iyer and around 35,000 shares to Shiv Sehgal, the exchange filing showed.

KMEW is currently trading on the BSE SME platform under the M Group.

The exchange's SME platform is for small and medium-sized companies with high growth potential. The SME platform of the exchange is open to SMEs with a post-issue paid-up capital of less than or equal to Rs 25 crore.

KMEW entered the market on March 22, 2021. The company allotted shares in the initial public offer (IPO) at an issue price of 37 percent.

KMEW is engaged in the business of ownership, chartering/hiring, dredging and repair/maintenance of marine crafts and marine infrastructure and related works as well as management, operation and technical maintenance works in India.

KMEW in its FY22 annual report has said that the Indian dredging and marine industry is expected to expand significantly in the coming years. Government plans to build new waterways and ports, as well as upgrade and expand existing ports, will account for much of this expansion.

The demand for dredging at existing major ports is estimated to reach around 170 million cubic meters in the coming years. In addition, at least eight dredging projects are being considered at existing non-critical ports, with an estimated 18 million cubic meters of material to be dredged as part of these projects.

In addition, the six new ports planned under Sagarmala will create opportunities in the dredging market. The identification of 106 additional national waterways has created significant capacity. A dredging volume of more than 200 million cubic meters is estimated for the next decade for the development of 32 new waterways along with the existing five waterways. Given this increase in dredging needs, the region offers considerable opportunity, the company said.