Biscuit maker Mrs Bectors's shares double in market debut

Shares of Biscuit maker Mrs Bectors Food Specialities more than doubled in their market debut on Thursday, in the latest sign of strong investor appetite for the country's food sector amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The initial public offering (IPO), which was nearly 200 times oversubscribed, comes days after Burger King India — a company to which Mrs Bectors sells buns — also enjoyed a strong stock market debut.

Mrs Bectors raised about $73 million in the IPO. The company makes cookies, creams and crackers under its flagship "Cremica" brand, besides bakery products such as breads, buns and cakes branded "English Oven".

Shares of the company opened at Rs 500 per share on the National Stock Exchange, well above the initial public offering price of Rs 288.

At its session high, the company had a market value of Rs 3525 crore ($478.81 million).

Mrs Bectors will use proceeds from the fresh issue of 1.4 million shares in its IPO to set up a biscuit production line in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

For the year ended March 2020, the company posted a profit of Rs 30.4 crore and revenue from operations of Rs 762 crore rupees, a fall of 8.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively.

SBI Capital Markets and ICICI Securities were among the lead book-runners for the IPO.