Dabur India shares decline 2% after block deals

Shares of Dabur India were trading 2 per cent lower at Rs 507.55 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday after nearly 10 million equity shares of the personal products company changed hands via block deals.

At 09:15 am, around 9.63 million equity shares representing 0.54 per cent equity of Dabur India changed hands on the BSE, the exchange data shows. The name of the buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

At 10:05 am, the stock was trading 1.65 per cent lower at Rs 511.60, as compared to 0.28 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

As many as 11.37 million shares or 0.64 per cent equity of the company changed hands on the counter as against an average of 87,000 shares that were traded daily in the past two weeks.

A media report said Dabur promoter would sell 0.5 per cent equity stake to raise Rs 460 crore at Rs 509.65-520.05 per share. As on December 31, 2020, the promoters held 67.87 per cent stake in the company, the shareholding pattern data shows.

Dabur India last month said its board had approved the incorporation of a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company in India. This new subsidiary company will engage in the business of manufacturing, sale and export of consumer care products.

Meanwhile, the brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Securities maintained a ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 640 per share.

“Following a volume growth of 17 per cent in 2QFY21 (third-highest in 50 quarters for the company), Dabur did even better with 18 per cent volume growth in 3QFY21 – despite a more challenging base. This indicates the efforts undertaken under the guidance of the new CEO over the past year and a half have revitalized volume and topline growth momentum,” the brokerage said in December quarter results update.

It further added that not only was volume growth far superior against historical levels, but the company also saw a second consecutive quarter of ‘best among staples peers’ volumes.

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