The announcement was made before market hours today, 4 November 2009.

Bargain hunting after a recent steep slide, aided the rally in the stock. The scrip had lost 12.05% in three sessions to Rs 194.35 on Tuesday, 3 November 2009 from its close of Rs 221 on 28 October 2009.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 283.98 points, or 1.84%, to 15688.18.

On BSE, 10.93 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 37.72 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 206.10 and a low of Rs 198 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 270 on 21 October 2009 and a 52-week low of Rs 52.60 on 2 December 2008.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 3 November 2009, falling 18.68% as compared to the Sensex 10.09% fall. It underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 22.45% as against 3.26% decline in the Sensex.

The large-cap infrastructure developer has an equity capital of Rs 280.41 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

The current price of Rs 206 discounts the company's Q2 September 2009 annualised EPS of Rs 24.83, by a PE multiple of 8.29.

The engineering and construction firm, which also has interests in hospitality and power, has capacity to produce 14.7 million tonnes of cement a year.

Meanwhile, media reports suggest that Jaiprakash Associates' subsidiary Jaypee Infratech is preparing to raise Rs 2,500-3,000 crore through an initial public offer (IPO)

Jaypee Infratech is building the 165-kilometer expressway between Greater Noida and Agra. Early last year, ICICI Bank picked up 1% for Rs 250 crore in Jaypee Infratech, valuing the expressway builder at Rs 25,000 crore.

Jaiprakash Associates' net profit soared 327.9% to Rs 870.19 crore on a 53% increase in sales to Rs 1824.26 crore in Q2 September 2009 over Q2 September 2008. The company grossed a profit of Rs 942 crore on sale of treasury shares, which helped the company clock a solid net profit in Q2 September 2009.

Construction segment contributed 47% to the company's revenue, while cement accounted for 43% with hospitality and real estate contributing the balance. Compared with the Q2 September 2008, profit jumped 66% for cement, but fell 10% for the construction segment in Q2 September 2009.

The company sold five crore treasury shares during the September 2009 quarter for Rs 1,185 crore. The treasury shares were created following the merger of four subsidiaries with JAL earlier this year.

Besides, the company said that the warrants issued to the promoters lapsed on 22 July 2009 and the advances of Rs 159 crore received against those warrants have been forfeited.

The company's board surprised the market by announcing a 1:2 bonus share issue at the time of announcing the Q2 results. This is a maiden bonus issue from Jaiprakash. Apart from the bonus issue, Jaiprakash Associates (JAL) also declared an interim dividend of Re 0.54, per equity share of face value Rs 2 for the year 2009-10.

Jaiprakash Associates undertakes large-scale engineering projects, which entail the construction of dams, power stations and sewerage schemes. The company also manufactures cement, manages hotels and develops hydroelectric power projects.