Ramesh Damani-backed Protean falls another 13%, down 30% in 2 days

After crashing 20% in Monday's trading session, shares of Protean eGov Technologies fell another 13% on Tuesday morning. The stock, which is owned by ace investor Ramesh Damani, is in a freefall after the company was not selected by the Income Tax Department for the project of Technology revamp, which includes Design, Development, Implementation, Operations and Maintenance of PAN systems.

In the last 2 days, Protean shares have lost over 30% of its value and if the sharp downside continues, the stock may even hit its 52-week low at Rs 930. The stock was trading around Rs 995 in the opening session.

In a regulatory filing on Sunday, the company said it was informed by the Income Tax Department (ITD) that they have not been considered favourably for the next round of RFP selection process.

It said the project was for a technology revamp which include Design, Development, Implementation, Operations, and Maintenance of PAN systems at the Income Tax department. "It appears to have limited or minimal impact on our ongoing PAN processing and issuance services under the existing mandate with the ITD," the company said.

Protean had participated in a bid for selection of a Managed Service Provider (MSP) for Design, Development, Implementation, Operations, and Maintenance of its PAN 2.0 Project.

The stock has now given up all its gains made in the last one year and is now down around 15% in the last 12 months. Ace investor Ramesh Damani owned a 1.05% stake in the company at the end of the March quarter.

Institutional investors in the company include Canara Bank (1.23%), Bank of Baroda (1.54%), Punjab National Bank (2.25%), Axis Bank (3.18%), and State Bank of India (4.93%).

Trendlyne data shows that the stock now has 2 buy calls and one sell call with the average target price at Rs 1,896, indicating an upside potential of about 66%.