Delta Corp falls 8%, hits over two-year low after FPIs sell stake

Smaller Cap World Fund Inc, yesterday, sold 1.59 million equity shares of Delta Corp at a price of Rs 144 per share.

Shares of Delta Corp hit an over two-year low of Rs 141 per share, down 8 per cent intra-day on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, after foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded about 1 percentage point stake in the company through open market.

The stock was trading at its lowest level since May 23, 2017, when it hit a low of Rs 139 apiece on the NSE in intra-day deals.

Yesterday, Smaller Cap World Fund Inc reduced its stake in Delta Corp by 0.59 per cent, selling 1.59 million equity shares for Rs 23 crore at an average price of Rs 144 on the NSE, the bulk deal data show.

Smallcap World Fund Inc held 18.57 million, or 6.86 per cent stake, in Delta Corp as on June 30, 2019, according to the shareholding pattern data. Further, ace investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Rekha Jhunjhunwala, the single largest public shareholders, collectively held 7.38 per cent stake in the company at the end of June quarter.

The names of the buyers were not ascertained immediately.

Meanwhile, in the April-June quarter, FPIs reduced their stake in the company to 22.63 per cent from 23.49 per cent held at the end of March quarter. Delta Corp is engaged in the entertainment & gaming, real estate, hospitality and aviation segments of the industry.

Thus far in the calendar year 2019, Delta Corp has underperformed the market by falling 44 per cent, as against a 3 per cent rise in the Nifty 50 index.

At 02:22 pm, the stock was trading 6 per cent lower at Rs 144 on the NSE, as compared to a 1.5 per cent decline in the benchmark index. A combined 1.23 million shares have changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE so far.