Dishman Pharma gains on buzz of plan to sell land to cut debt

Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals rose 1.37% to Rs 96.40 at 11:36 IST on BSE on reports the company is in talks to sell its 175 hectares of land in Gujarat to Nirma for about Rs 650 crore to cut its debt.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 30.88 points, or 0.14%, to 21,888.91.

On BSE, so far 4.30 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 3.33 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 97.95 and a low of Rs 96.20 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 110.40 on 22 January 2014. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 37.05 on 2 August 2013.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 7 March 2014, rising 8.81% compared with the Sensex's 7.57% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 9.56% as against Sensex's 4.40% rise.

The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 16.14 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

According to a media report, Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals is also looking at exiting its Shanghai facility.

The company is looking at selling the Gujarat land to reduce its over Rs 800 crore debt, the report suggested, adding that the company plans to pay off a bank debt of Rs 100 crore from proceeds of sale of its Shanghai facility.

Talks with Nirma are in final stages, the report added. Dishman had in 2009 scrapped plans to set up an engineering Special Economic Zone (SEZ) due to global slowdown and merged it with the adjoining pharma SEZ in Bavla, near Ahmedabad. The company is looking at exiting the SEZ business altogether by selling of the land in Gangad and Kalyangadh village near Bavla in Gujarat, the report said.

Dishman Pharma reportedly has a total debt of over Rs 800 crore, including current maturity of long term loans.

On a consolidated basis, Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals' net profit fell 7.6% to Rs 15.16 crore on 1.3% decline in net sales to Rs 313.42 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012.

Dishman is the global outsourcing partner for the pharmaceutical industry offering a portfolio of development, scale-up and manufacturing services. The products and services offered by the company spans from chemical development to commercial manufacture and supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

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