The announcement was made before market hours today, 31 August 2009.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 145.90 points, or 0.92%, to 15776.44.

On BSE, 12.98 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 10.16 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 272.50 and a low of Rs 260 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 273.70 on 2 June 2009 and a 52-week low of Rs 88.15 on 27 October 2008.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 28 August 2009, rising 8.15% as compared to the Sensex's 3.85% rise. It outperformed the market in past one quarter, jumping 19.22% as against 11.38% rise in the Sensex.

The large-cap private sector oil explorer has an equity capital of Rs 1896.67 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The current price of Rs 270.15 discounts the company's Q1 June 2009 annualised EPS of Rs 0.39, by a PE multiple of 692.69.

Cairn is developing three oil fields -- Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwarya -- in the Rajasthan.

Production at the Mangala field is expected to rise to at least 175,000 barrels per day (bpd) - a fifth of the country's production.

Oil from Mangala may be sold 10% to 15% cheaper than the average price Brent crude fetched during the six months ended 30 June 2009, Cairn India said on 29 July 2009. It has completed negotiations on pricing and commercial terms of crude sales from the field with Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals and Indian Oil Corporation, the government's nominated buyers of the crude, the company said.

Cairn India holds a 70% stake in the Rajasthan block, while state-run explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corporation holds the balance.

Cairn India reported net profit of Rs 18.59 crore in Q1 June 2009 as compared to net loss of Rs 46.68 crore in Q1 June 2008. Sales fell 74.2% to Rs 0.25 crore in Q1 June 2009 over Q1 June 2008.

Cairn India is into exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in India.