Share tips: A punt on Indian infrastructure

This India-based power generator has been down on its luck. But that may all be about to change, says Paul Hill.

Last year was a bad one for Essar Energy, the India-based power generator and oil refinery group. The shares have been in decline since parent Essar floated a 23% stake in London at 420p a share. General disaffection with emerging markets, along with a weakening rupee, saw profits drop $303m.

Delays in acquiring licences to mine cheap domestic coal for its power stations left it having to buy more expensive deposits from abroad. Then, its billionaire founders, the Ruia brothers, got caught up in an alleged mobile telecoms scam in India, and a subsidiary was hit by a $656m tax.

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Paul gained a degree in electrical engineering and went on to qualify as a chartered management accountant. He has extensive corporate finance and investment experience and is a member of the Securities Institute.

Over the past 16 years Paul has held top-level financial management and M&A roles for blue-chip companies such as O2, GKN and Unilever. He is now director of his own capital investment and consultancy firm, PMH Capital Limited.

Paul is an expert at analysing companies in new, fast-growing markets, and is an extremely shrewd stock-picker.