Nestle India surges 4% in weak market on stock split, interim dividend plan

Nestle India said the board will meet on October 19 to consider a stock split and interim dividend.

Shares of Nestle India surged 4 per cent to Rs 23,333.65 on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market after the company announced that the board will meet on October 19 to consider a stock split proposal. The board will also consider declaration of second interim dividend for the year 2023, if any.

The stock of packaged foods company was trading close to its 52-week high of Rs 23,390 hit on July 17, 2023. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.72 per cent at 65,042 at 09:22 AM.

In an exchange filing, Nestle India said, a meeting of the board of directors is scheduled to be held on Thursday, October 19, 2023, to consider the un-audited financial results of the company for the third quarter and nine months ended 30th September 2023.

The board will also consider declaration of second interim dividend for the year 2023, if any, and  alteration in the share capital of the company by sub-division/ split of existing equity shares having face value of Rs 10 each, fully paid up, as may be determined by the board of directors, Nestle India said.

Meanwhile, the company has fixed November 1, 2023 as record date for determining entitlement of the members to the second interim dividend for the year 2023, if any.

A stock split is a corporate action, in which a company issues additional shares to shareholders, increasing the total shares by the specified ratio based on the shares they held previously. Companies often choose to split their stock to lower its trading price to a more comfortable range for most investors and to increase the liquidity of trading in its shares.

Thus far in the calendar year 2023, the stock price of Nestle India has rallied 18 per cent as compared to a 6.3 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

As on June 30, 2023, the promoters held 62.76 per cent stake in Nestle India. Of the remaining 37.24 per cent held by public shareholders, foreign portfolio investors held 12.38 per cent holding and domestic institutional held 9.05 per cent stake, the shareholding pattern data shows. Individual shareholders held 12.85 per cent holding, data shows.