Hatsun Agro up 12% on bonus issue, fund raising plan; gains 70% in 6 months

The board of directors of the company will meet on October 19, 2020 to consider the proposal for declaration of bonus shares and fund raising plan.

Shares of Hatsun Agro Product surged 12 per cent to Rs 870 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday, after the company announced plans to reward the shareholders by issuing bonus shares. The stock of the packaged foods company is trading close to its 52-week high of Rs 875 touched on September 15, 2020.

“The board of directors of the company will meet on October 19, 2020 to consider the proposal for declaration of bonus shares,” Hatsun Agro Product said in a exchange filing. The board will also consider raising funds through private placement of equity shares by way of qualified institutional placement (QIP), it said.

The board has fixed October 29, 2020 as record date for the purpose of determining the shareholders eligible to vote on the resolutions for issue of bonus shares.

In the past six months, Hatsun Agro Product has outperformed the market by surging 70 per cent, against 42 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The company manufactures and markets products that cater to both cooking and consumption, like milk, curd, ice creams, dairy whitener, skimmed milk powder, ghee, paneer and lots more.

The government, according to the company, has now increased its focus on nutrition (besides food) security and raising farmers’ income (rather than enhancing farm productivity). Changing the consumer behavior with suitable programs and incentives is already in the agenda.

"India may consider reducing GST on ghee and milk fat, from 12 per cent to 5 per cent to bring it at par with the GST rate for skimmed milk powder (SMP).  is has been a long-standing demand of the dairy industry and will ultimately bene¬fit milk producers, increase rural incomes, spur demand and hasten economic recovery," it said in a recent release.

At 10:43 am; the stock was trading 8 per cent higher at Rs 844 on the BSE, against 1.2 per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter more-than-doubled with a combined around 129,000 equity shares were changing hands on the NSE and BSE.