SSI rises on Nasdaq listing plan

CHENNAI: Shares of Indian software services and training firm SSI Ltd. were

up nearly one per cent in Monday afternoon deals on news of the firm's plan to

list on the US Nasdaq, dealers said.

At 1:17 p.m. (0747 GMT), the shares were up 0.86 per cent at Rs 1,974 in a

volume of nearly 325,000 on the Bombay exchange, off an intra-day high of Rs

2,067. The benchmark index of the Bombay exchange was down 1.04 per cent at

4,148.39.

SSI's chief said at the weekend that the firm planned to list on the US

Nasdaq exchange by converting its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), currently

listed on the London Stock Exchange, to American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in

2001.

"The news of the conversion to ADRs should be a positive as it will give

more visibility," said Sundaram Newton Asset Management Co. analyst

Srividhya Rajesh. "The stock is looking fairly attractive at current levels

and should go up," she added.

The firm's GDRs closed at an all-time low of $4.75 on the LSE on Friday, down

over 66 per cent from a high of $14 on its first day of trade on March 31. SSI

is scheduled to announce its results for 1999-2000 (July-June) on August 23.

The firm's shares are almost 34 per cent up from their calendar 2000 low of

1,476 hit on May 29 but are still around 72 per cent down from their peak of Rs

7,200 rupees hit on March 6.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.