Religare rallies on turnaround hopes

Shares of Religare Enterprises have gained 40 per cent in the past fortnight after the financial services firm announced major changes to its board and management. In a bid to stem the slide in its fortunes, promoter Malvinder Singh had stepped down on November 14 as non-executive chairman and the board appointed S Lakshminarayanan as executive chairman. Promoter brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh would continue as non-executive directors, handing over the control to a professional management. Sources said the former Ranbaxy promoters are also keen to infuse more capital in the company, which has seen value erosion of close to 80 per cent in the past year.