Small-sized companies are under the hammer on the bourses after reporting dismal financial results for the quarter ended September 2011.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) small-cap index, which comprises stocks of 541 companies, is down 98 points at 6,548, its lowest since August 2009. Of these 541 stocks, as many as 99 stocks are trading at 52-week lows.

The small-cap index has fallen 6% in the current month, against a 4.8% decline in mid-cap index and 3.3% fall in the benchmark Sensex.

Bilcare, KS Oils, Steel Strips Wheels, GTL, Force Motors, Eveready Industries, NDTV, United Breweries Holdings and Gammon India are some notable small-cap stocks trading at 52-week lows on the BSE.

Poor financial results for the quarter ended September 2011 have impacted small-cap companies the most. A total of 454 companies from the index have declared their results, reporting a 60% year-on-year drop in aggregate net profit despite a 17% growth in operational income. Higher raw material costs, rising interest burden and foreign exchange losses have led to the fall in bottom-line of these companies.

Among individual stocks, KRBL, Confidence Petroleum, Cambridge Solutions, Lovable Lingerie, Edserve Softsystems, Bilcare, Triveni Engineering, Kiri Industries and Hindustan Dorr-Oliver have declined by more than 8% each in afternoon deals on the BSE.