Shares of Prataap Snacks hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,055, after rising 8 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) during intraday trade on Tuesday. Over the past two trading sessions, the packaged food stock has soared 30 percent after GDN Investment’s son bought a 1 percent stake in the company via open market agreements on Monday. On November 20, GDN Investments Private Limited purchased 250,000 shares representing 1.05 per cent stake in Prataap Snacks in two tranches of 125,000 shares at a price of Rs 948.87 per share on the NSE through bulk transactions, according to exchange data.
Rajeshbhai Mansukbhai Savani sold 273,254 shares of the company at a price of Rs 970.69 per share, according to the data.
As many as 1.61 million shares representing 6.8 per cent of Prataap Snacks’ total capital changed hands on the NSE on Monday, according to bourse data. The names of the other buyers and sellers were not immediately available.
At 09:44; the stock was quoting 2 per cent higher at Rs 997.85, compared to a rise of 0.44 per cent in the Nifty 50. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,010 hit on November 22, 2022. It had reached a high record high of Rs 1,458.70 on April 10, 2018.
Prataap Snacks is one of India’s leading snack companies. It offers several product variants in the categories of Chips, Extruded Snacks, Namkeen (Traditional Indian Snacks) under the popular and dynamic brands Yellow Diamond and Avadh. She recently launched a range of sweet snacks with different varieties of cakes.
The company had reported a resilient performance in the September quarter (Q2FY24); including a 12 percent increase in quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) sales amid a challenging macroeconomic environment marked by uneven rainfall, sluggish demand and increased competitive pressure. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, the company reported a 4.2 percent decline in sales compared to the level reached in the second quarter of last year. The positive side of the overall performance was strong growth in the Namkeen category, management said.
Profit after tax (PAT) during the quarter stood at Rs 16.5 crore, a 4-fold increase over PAT of Rs 3.3 crore in Q2FY23. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin improved by 400 basis points year-on-year and 30 basis points quarter-on-quarter, to 8.8 percent. Management said the improvement in margins was mainly due to the structural improvement in the business model due to the compression of the distribution structure achieved through the efforts of the last three years. The EBITDA margin trajectory was further strengthened by cost optimization measures and a cooling of input prices.
