Shares in biscuit maker Mrs Bectors Food Specialities Ltd on Thursday more than doubled in their market debut signalling strong investor appetite for the country's food sector amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initial public offering (IPO) of the company which was nearly 200 times oversubscribed, comes days after Burger King India - a company to which Mrs Bectors sells buns.
The stock opened at Rs 501, reflecting a jump of 73.95 per cent from the issue price on the BSE. As the trade progressed, it rose to Rs 601.20, up 108.75 per cent. At the NSE, it made a debut at Rs 500, registering a premium of 73.61 per cent.
The company's market valuation was at Rs 3,338.27 crore on the BSE. Mirroring massive investor response, Mrs Bectors Food Specialities initial public offer was subscribed a whopping 198 times earlier this month. The price band for the share sale was at Rs 286-288 apiece.
Mrs Bectors Food manufactures and markets a range of products such as biscuits, breads and buns. It markets a wide variety of biscuits and breads under the flagship brand 'Mrs Bector's Cremica' and the 'English Oven', respectively.
Mrs Bectors raised about ₹ 540 crore in the IPO. The company will use proceeds from the fresh issue of 14 lakh shares in its IPO to set up a biscuit production line in Punjab.
For the year ended March 2020, the company posted profit of Rs 30.4 crore and revenue from operations of Rs 762 crore, a fall of 8.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively.
SBI Capital Markets Limited and ICICI Securities Limited were among the lead book runners for the IPO.
(with PTI inputs)
