Many BSE B1, B2 cos may enter A-club

Many companies currently in the BSE’s B1 and B2 group may soon earn a promotion to the ‘upper crust’ A-group which houses large-cap, blue chip companies across sectors. The exchange has announced revised eligibility criteria for classifying listed companies as A-group, which will be effective from March 3, ‘08. The rules will be applicable to companies which are listed at least for three months. Any company can directly list in the A group if its market cap exceeds that of the 100th company ranked on the basis of average market cap calculated for the preceding three months. In any case, the number of A-group stocks will be maintained at about 200, said the BSE spokesperson. The exchange will announce the revised list of re-classified companies on February 18, ‘08. The BSE has also done away with classifying non-A group companies as B1 and B2. Instead, the two groups, housing medium and small-cap companies, will be merged into B group. Any company entering into the F&O segment from the day of its listing will be directly included in the A group. Existing companies seeking listing in the A group should be traded at least 98% of trading days in the past three months. It should have non-promoter holding of 10%. Public sector companies, however, are exempted from this criteria. While re-classifying any company as A group, a weightage of 75% will be given to market cap and 25% to traded turnover. The classification of the A group will be reviewed two times in a year — in February and August, said the BSE on Tuesday.