India: Balaji Telefilms: A hit script, but...

The Balaji Telefilms stock has been on a downtrend since the market turmoil. This despite it being at the top of the heap as far as popular and ad-raking television programmes go. The Ketan Parekh factor, the merger-in-offing with Nine Network and the concerns over transparency have cast a shadow after the stock had a good run. However, the downside from present levels may be limited while on fundamentals the stock could command a better rating, says S. Vaidya Nathan.

Recommendation: Buy

TURN on the television and switch to channels beaming Indian soaps, most, if not all, are likely to be a Balaji Telefilms offering. A number of its 'serials' are popular across various languages. All of these serials have names that begin with 'K', a fetish of the company boss, Ms Ekta Kapoor.

Balaji Telefilms seems to be having a good run with its programming catching the audience imagination. For all this, however, the scrip's showing in the stock market has been quite dismal in recent times.

Flashy start, sloppy fall: It started off well though. After the initial public offer at …