5 Stocks That Destroyed Investor Wealth This Year

It's an irony that while the Sensex has gained more than 3.5 per cent in 2018, the mid cap and small cap index has lost 11 per cent. Here are a few stocks from the small and midcap space that have completely destroyed investor wealth since the start of the year.

Vakrangee Ltd

Shares in Vakrangee are down 91 per cent, since Dec 29. The stock was trading at Rs 421 on Dec 29 and is currently trading at Rs 34.20. The sharp reason for the decline was the resignation of auditors. Former auditors, Price Waterhouse, said that they had asked the management for "information on several matters pertaining to election books, bullion and jewellery businesses".

The management's responses were inadequate or contradicted earlier explanations. This led to resignation of the auditors. The price damage, following worries over books of accounts, has led to colossal losses for investors.

PC Jeweller

Massive unwinding by a foreign portfolio investor, led to carnage in this stock. PC Jeweller stock is down almost down 70 per cent, from levels of Rs 456 on Dec 29 to the current levels of Rs 130.

There were also some worries on transfer of shares from the main promoter to a relative. The management has clarified that fundamentals of the company continue to be strong and the store expansion continues.

The company has now announced a buyback of shares at a price of Rs 350. This has failed to bring any cheer to the stock, though one must admit that since the management is not participating in the buyback, that Rs 130 maybe an attractive buying price.

Manpasand Beverages

This is another stock that has tanked owing to resignation of auditors from the company. The Manpasand share is down near 70 per cent from levels of Rs 500, to the current levels of Rs 180.

In its resignation letter Deloitte said that "significant information" requested by it at various points in time was not provided.

"There has been no further progress with respect to the pending information, evidences and explanations. Therefore, it is unable to complete the statutory audit for the year ended March 31, 2018," the company said in a release.

HCC

Shares in HCC have collapsed from levels of Rs 41 to Rs 14.35. The price destruction has come largely after reports that its city project Lavasa could be heading for bankruptcy.

Lavasa Corp, is developing India's first private hill city project Lavasa. This company, according to news reports is considering approaching the National Company Law Tribunal by for voluntary insolvency owing to challenges faced in raising money for completion of the project, media reports said.

Unitech

This is a real estate company, which has seen its share dip, following the collapse in mid cap and small cap stocks in the last two months. The shares of the company have dropped almost 54 per cent from Rs 9.65 to Rs 4.4.

This is a debt ridden company with interests in real estate. The stock has become a penny stock over the last few years.