Buyback Buzz Props Syngenta

The share price of Syngenta India, a pesticides and agrochemicals MNC major, advanced further on Monday on rumours that the company is considering a buyback of shares. On the BSE, the stock hit an intraday high of Rs 120 but settled at Rs 11 5.95, up 5.60 per cent over Friday's close. More than 5.62 lakh shares changed hands at the counter.

Dealers at a local brokerage house said, "The jump in Syngenta stock was purely on speculative buying following rumours that the company would consider a buyback of shares at Rs 160 per share, which is still at a premium of 35.7 per cent." Interestingly, the stock has gained around 40 per cent to its intraday high of Rs 120 today from Rs 85.80 on July 2. Volumes on the counters rose from 29,047 shares to over six lakh.

 

Syngenta India was formed by the de-merger of the agribusiness of Novartis India with effect from April 2000. The company is now a 51 per cent subsidiary of Syngenta AG. The latter was formed by the global merger of the crop protection and seeds businesses of Novartis AG with the agrochemicals business of AstraZeneca. Currently, the Syngenta group has three entities in India -- Syngenta India, Zeneca Agrochemicals and Zeneca Biosciences. The parent company has 51 per cent shareholding in Syngenta India and 100 per cent in Zeneca Agrochemicals and Zeneca Biosciences.

Syngenta's product line comprises crop protection products and seeds. Crop protection includes herbicides, fungicides and insecticides like Topik, Refit and Nuvacron. It is also involved in the introduction of new products and research activities for introduction of high breed seeds in the country, especially for rice, wheat, maize, fruits and vegetables.

Meanwhile, for the year ended March 2002, the company registered a massive 128.35 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 24.32 crore on a 3 per cent rise in net sales to Rs 366.92 crore. Recently, the board has recommended higher dividend of 35 per cent as against 20 per cent in the previous year.