Hindustan Foods' share price rose 3.90 percent to Rs 678 per share on the BSE in the early hours of trade on Wednesday. The stock price increased after the company stated on Tuesday that it had begun the merging of soup, spice, and seasoning manufacturing plants in Nashik.
The company plans to merge a promoter-owned entity to expand its production base to Nashik, Maharashtra. The unit is held by Avalon Cosmetics, a promoter-owned firm based in Sinnar MIDC, Nashik. ACPL purchased the factory from Smith & Nephew Private, an Indo-German joint venture, in 2007-08.
The facility, located on 16 acres of land in MIDC, Sinnar, with over 100,000 square feet of built-up area, is a food manufacturing plant that produces nearly 5,000 tons of soups, meal makers, energy drinks, and other dry powder products annually for various FMCG companies in India. In order to promote corporate consolidation and capitalize on recent advancements, the Board of Directors resolved to demerge ACPL's Nashik factory into Hindustan Foods during a meeting on September 24th, 2024.
"The promoters, who had been in the contract manufacturing sector before to acquiring HFL, have taken several steps to guarantee that all operations are centralized under Hindustan Foods Limited. This is one step toward improved managerial focus and expansion in scale and operations. Furthermore, as previously announced, the construction of a new ice cream facility in Nashik would make better use of industrial land, setting the path for future expansion and diversification," said Sameer Kothari, Managing Director of Hindustan Foods. Hindustan Foods added that the board has agreed to take efforts to streamline the promoters' holdings by merging the holding company with HFL, hence making the shareholding pattern more transparent.
Hindustan Foods Limited (HFL), founded on December 31, 1984, is a public limited company sponsored by Shashi K. Kalathil and Shrinivas V. Dempo. The company focuses on contract manufacturing of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), particularly home care, personal care, and food and beverage items. This includes fruit juices, aerated beverages, tea packing, and shoe repair.
The company had a revenue of Rs 2,381 crore in fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), with a net profit of Rs 78.28 crore. In the first quarter of FY25, the company recorded net sales of Rs 639.66 crore, while in the June quarter of FY25, net profit was Rs 20.07 crore.
Hindustan Foods' market capitalisation is Rs 7,377.95 crore, according to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Its shares trade at a price-to-earnings multiple of 92.80, with an earnings per share of Rs 7.03. The company's 52-week high is Rs 679.15, and its 52-week low is Rs 460.75 per share. At 10:31 AM, Hindustan Foods shares lost all of their gains and fell 1.46 percent to Rs 643 per share. In comparison, the BSE Sensex fell 0.06 percent to 84,863 levels.
