The share price of Patanjali Foods, a subsidiary of yoga guru Ramdev-backed Patanjali Ayurved, tanked five percent on March 16 to hit the lower circuit at Rs 912.9 after bourses put a freeze on the shares held by promoters and promoter entities over their failure to meet the minimum public shareholding norm.
As many as 292.58 million equity shares have been frozen, the company said in a filing. Patanjali Ayurved is among the 21 promoter and promoter group entities against whom the action has been taken.
As per the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) rules, at least a 25 percent stake in a listed entity must be held by public shareholders. In Patanjali Foods, the stake was at 19.18 percent at the end of the December quarter.
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Patanjali Foods CEO Sanjeev Asthana told CNBC-TV18 that the company was confident of reaching the minimum public shareholding norm in a couple of months. The dilution would be through a combination of promoter offer for sale and qualified institutional placement, he said.
At 9.58 am, Patanjali Foods was trading 4.6 percent lower at Rs 916.30 on the BSE. The scrip has given over 800 percent in the past three years but has fallen around 23 percent this year.
Recently, the stock was added to the FTSE All World Index, which made investors hopeful of FII inflow.
In the quarter ended December 2022, the company posted a 15 percent year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs 269 crore, while revenue jumped 26 percent to Rs 7,926 crore.
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