The shares of Ajanta Pharma surged 6.83% on Thursday to reach an intraday high of ₹ 1,251.00 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Its shares closed at ₹ 1233.00 apiece, up 5.22%. Volumes jumped at the counter and 10,93,311 shares changed hands on Thursday.
There were reports that promoter group entities Ayush Agarwal Trust and Ravi Agarwal Trust plan to offload a 4.6% stake in the company through a block deal. It was likely to be executed at a price of ₹ 1,113 per share, which is at a 10% discount to its closing price on Thursday. The deal is likely to fetch ₹ 650 crores for the promoters. Currently, its promoters hold a 70.48% stake in the company. However, 17.42% of this stake is pledged.
The company reported a 20% fall in its consolidated net profit at ₹ 156.6 crores in the quarter that ended September 30, 2022, impacted by higher expenses and lower sales in the US generics market. It reported a consolidated net profit of ₹ 195.94 crores in the corresponding period last fiscal.
Ajanta Pharma is a mid-cap company with a market capitalization of ₹ 15,014 crores. It has a good return on equity of 22.77% and an ideal debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Its shares were trading at a price-to-equity ratio (P/E) of 22.41, which is lower than the industry P/E of 28.95, indicating that it is undervalued as compared to its peers.
Written by Simran Bafna
