Barbeque Nation shares extend rally, zoom 47% from Wednesday's low

Shares of Barbeque-Nation Hospitality, on Thursday, were locked in 20 per cent upper circuit, for the second straight day, at Rs 708.45 on the BSE. With today’s rally, the stock has surged 47 per cent from its Wednesday’s low of Rs 481.35.

Currently, the stock was up 42 per cent against its issue price of Rs 500 per share after a weak market debut, yesterday. The stock of Barbeque Nation Hospitality, which owns and operates the popular chain of Barbeque Nation Restaurants, had opened at Rs 492, a 1.6 per cent discount against its issue price on the BSE.

Till 09:25 am, a combined 978,000 equity shares had changed hands and there were pending buy orders for 315,000 equity shares on the NSE and BSE.

The promoters hold a 60.24 per cent stake, CX Partners owns 33.79 per cent and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's investment firm Alchemy Capital has a 2.05 per cent holding in the company.

As of December 2020, Barbeque Nation Hospitality operated 147 outlets across India and six outlets across three countries -- UAE, Oman and Malaysia.

The strong presence in the Indian market positions the company well to capitalise on the growth in consumer spending from expected increases in the level of disposable income in India. The company would be spending around Rs 90 crore in the next two years to expand its restaurant (both ‘Barbeque Nation’ & ‘Toscano’) base in existing cities, ICICI Securities said.

The chain Casual Dining Restaurant (CDR) industry is expected to grow at a faster pace over the next five years. However, the brokerage believes the bigger size restaurants and limitation in scaling up delivery sales can impact the growth of the company. Moreover, the brokerage said it awaits clarity on a full recovery from Covid-19 before assigning any recommendation.