Lumbering PSUs become hot stock market bet

NEW DELHI: State-owned companies, from builders such as NBCC to oil firms such as BPCL, are attracting top investors as cheap valuations, improving earnings, and

NEW DELHI: State-owned companies, from builders such as NBCC to oil firms such as BPCL, are attracting top investors as cheap valuations, improving earnings, and share buybacks make them stand out in an otherwise expensive market.

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Many of the biggest state-owned companies are in the oil and gas sector, which is benefiting handsomely from a government decision allowing them to set prices — effectively turning them into regular profit-seeking businesses. Valuations are also cheap. As a result the Nifty Public Sector Enterprises (PSE) Index has surged nearly 17% since June, against a 6% rise in the broader Nifty 50 index, or NSE index, over the same period.