Capital Group, Aberdeen Buy Welspun Corp Stake, Shares Hit 52-Week High

Mumbai: Capital Group, Aberdeen Investments and domestic funds bought a 2.39 per cent stake in Welspun Corp for Rs 1,433.44 crore through block deals on the National Stock Exchange.

The investors acquired 63 lakh shares at an average price of Rs 2,275.30 each on Wednesday. Welspun Corp shares climbed nearly 6 per cent on Thursday and touched a 52-week high of Rs 2,437.30 on the NSE.

Capital Group Leads Buying

US-based Capital Group was the biggest buyer. Its affiliates purchased 47,84,526 shares across 14 transactions, representing a 1.81 per cent stake in the Mumbai building materials company.

Other buyers included Scotland-based Aberdeen Investments, mutual funds managed by Edelweiss and Quant, and Edelweiss Life Insurance Company.

Promoter Holding Declines

Promoter-group company Welspun Investments and Commercials sold 60 lakh shares, equal to a 2.27 per cent stake. Welspun Corp Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Vipul Mathur sold 3 lakh shares at the same price.

After the sale, Welspun Investments and Commercials’ holding declined to 0.29 per cent from 2.56 per cent. The combined stake owned by promoters and promoter-group entities fell to 47.46 per cent from 49.73 per cent.

Record Order Supports Outlook

The deals came after Welspun Corp secured its largest-ever single order, valued at Rs 17,200 crore, for supplying pipes from its US manufacturing facility.

The contract lifted the company’s global order book to a record USD 4.4 billion, or around Rs 42,100 crore. The company said this provides revenue visibility and supports growth.

Welspun Corp also reported a nearly threefold increase in consolidated net profit for the June quarter. Profit rose to Rs 1,047.88 crore from Rs 349.16 crore a year earlier.

Total income increased to Rs 4,144.91 crore, compared with Rs 3,586.52 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.