ABG Shipyard has announced that it has clocked a decent 12.84% growth in profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter ended March 31, 2009.

During the period under review, the company has recorded PAT of Rs 51 crore.

In the same period of previous fiscal, company's profit after tax figure stood at Rs 46 crore.

However company's net sales for the reporting quarter surged by 34.04% to Rs 370 crore from Rs 276 crore in the same period a year ago.

India's biggest non-state shipbuilder, ABG Shipyard, expedites its efforts to acquire 32.12 per cent stake in Great Offshore, counter bidding the offer made by its rival Bharati Shipyard, which already holds 15 per cent stake in the firm.

ABG, after the meeting of its board on Tuesday, offered Rs 375 a share as compared to Rs 344 per share offered by its rival, Bharati Shipyard.

Stock market analyst Hitendra Vasudeo of stockmechanics.com has maintained ‘Sell’ rating on ABG Shipyard stock to achieve a target between Rs 143.50 - Rs 133.70.

The investors are advised to sell the stock in order to avoid loss, as there are full chances of a downward trend in this stock.

If the stock fell below Rs 128, it may see more weakness.

According to Mr. Vasudeo, investors can sell the stock around Rs 149.60-Rs 153.20 with a strict stop loss of Rs 158.

ABG Shipyard has raised the offer price for Great Offshore to Rs 520 per share, intensifying the acquisition race between ABG and Bharti shipyards for the stakes in Great Offshore. The company, through a series of bulk share purchase at BSE and NSE, brought 1.5 lakh shares of the company that account for 0.4 per cent of Great Offshore.

ABG now holds around 8.3 per cent stocks in Great Offshore, as compared to 2.02 per cent stakes in the firm. Mr Dhannajay Datar, CFO, ABG Shipyard said: "From Day One we have made it clear we want to take management control of Great Offshore. But I cannot comment what our strategy is going forward."

Income-Tax (I-T) authorities on Wednesday conducted raids on ABG Shipyard Ltd, a leading shipbuilding and repair firm.

The raids were conducted at 25 places belonging to the company and its owners in Mumbai and Surat, Dahej near Bharuch, and Bhuj in Gujarat.

ABG Shipyard has one of the country’s largest private sector shipbuilding yards at Gujarat.

After Director of Income Tax (Investigation) Boota Singh issued a search warrant, around 120 I-T staffers carried out the raids till late Wednesday night. The raids are expected to continue on Thursday.

Stock market analysts have maintained 'buy' rating on ABG Shipyard Ltd with an intraday target of Rs 342.

According to them, interested traders can purchase the stock above Rs 338 with a strict stop loss of Rs 333.

If the stock markets remain on the positive path then the stock price will hit a target above Rs 350.

Shares of the company, on Wednesday (Feb 03), closed at Rs 336.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 341.70 and a low of Rs 62.45 on BSE.

Current EPS & P/E ratio of the stock stood at 38 & 8.92 respectively.

Western India Shipyard Ltd (WSHP. BO) expressed on Friday that shipbuilder ABG Shipyard (ABGS. BO) has elevated its bid in the firm to 60.26 % from 19.68 % in an off-market business reaching up its shares.

ABG purchased 119.55 million shares on Oct. 12 and Oct. 14, Western India Shipyard stated in a BSE filing.

Western India Shipyard shares elevated up by their each day upper circuit of 20 % to 16.76 rupees in a feeble Mumbai market.

Technical analyst Anil Singhvi has maintained 'buy' rating on ABG Shipyard Limited stock to attain an intra-day target of Rs 410.

According to analyst, the investors can buy the stock with a stop loss of Rs 386.

The stock of the company, on April 25, closed at Rs 389.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 44.66 and 8.78 respectively.

The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 490.50 and a low of Rs 230.70 on BSE.