The BSE Sensex, meanwhile, was down 11 points, or 0.08%, to 14,241

On BSE, 2.6 lakh shares were traded on the counter today. The scrip had an average daily volume of 3.18 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

Shares of India's largest engineering and construction firm by sales had hit a high of Rs 2464.70 and a low of Rs 2363.30 so far during the day. They had touched a 52-week high of Rs 2735 on 24 July 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 1162.50 on 24 August 2006.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) had underperformed the market over the last one month to 22 August 2007, declining 10.62 % compared to the Sensex’s fall of 9.79%. It had, however, outperformed the market over the past quarter, rising 40.12% compared to the Sensex’s slide of 2.6%.

From a recent high of Rs 2520.60 on 3 August 2007, the scrip declined 5.4% to Rs 2384.25 on 22 August 2007.

The company's current equity is Rs 57.31 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

The current market price of Rs 2404.70 discounts its Q1 June 2007 EPS of Rs 53.11 by a PE multiple of 45.27.

L&T announced during the market hours today, 23 August 2007, that the company has won a repeat order valued at over $70 million for construction of two ship from shipping company RollDock BV of The Netherlands, (erstwhile Zadeko Shipmanagement CV).

On 13 August 2007, the company had secured two more design and build contracts from Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) for the construction of the underground station at Saket (Delhi) and a tunnel as part of its Phase II Project.

As per recent reports, L&T is set to invest Rs 100 crore in Mysore-based Rangsons Electronics for a 40% stake. Rangsons Electronics is a Rs 70-crore electronic manufacturing solutions provider and one of the preferred suppliers for L&T’s electrical & electronics division. In addition to L&T, Rangsons is also a major supplier to General Electric.

L&T's net profit jumped 139.83% to Rs 376.85 crore on a 29.57% rise in sales to Rs 4505.21 crore in Q1 June 2007 over Q1 June 2006. The results were announced on 19 July 2007.

The company manufactures a wide range of engineering products like earthmoving, industrial and chemical machinery, switchgears, valves and welding alloys.