Sapphire Foods Share Price: Share price of Sapphire Foods India rose more than 3 percent after the company’s 68.2 lakh shares, or 10.7 percent equity, switched hands in a block deal window. The development comes a day after the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut informed the exchanges of its intention to sell up to 31.77 lakh shares from its shareholding of 62.07 lakh shares in one or more tranches by December 21, 2022.
Sapphire Foods said in an exchange filing on Wednesday that the company has received a letter of notice from a shareholder, namely WWD Ruby Limited, regarding the proposed sale of shares of the company held by them.
WWD Ruby said in its letter that they plan to sell up to 31,77,127 shares, representing 5 percent of Sapphire Foods’ total equity, in one or more tranches by December 21, 2022.
As of September 30, 2022, the foreign company owned 6.21 million shares, or a 9.77 percent stake, in Sapphire Foods, shareholding data shows.
According to BSE data at 09:15; approximately 181,835 shares and at 09:37; about 131,332 shares changed hands through block deals. The names of the buyers and sellers were not immediately traced.
At 10:38 am; Sapphire Foods traded 3 percent higher at Rs 1,401.75, compared to a 0.44 percent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The stock reached an intraday low of Rs 1,347.05 on the BSE. About 7.2 million shares, representing 11 percent of the company’s total equity, had changed hands on the BSE. The share reached an all-time high of Rs 1,573 on 6 October 2022.
Sapphire Foods’ pre-IPO lock-in period expired on Nov. 15, after which 43.3 percent of total equity holdings were free to be sold.
In Q2FY23, Sapphire Foods recorded its highest ever revenue of Rs 560.4 crore with a net profit of Rs 26.9 crore. In the year-ago period, Sapphire Foods had reported a loss of Rs 5 crore.
“KFC achieved the same sales growth of 15 percent and an increase in total sales of 36 percent. As a result of the lower price increase relative to mid-teen inflation, gross margins were impacted by 310 basis points,” the company said.
Sapphire Foods is a leading YUM franchisee in the Indian subcontinent with operations in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. As of September 30, 2022, the company owned and operated 301 KFC and 249 Pizza Hut restaurants in India, 99 Pizza Hut and 7 Taco Bell restaurants in Sri Lanka, and 1 KFC and Pizza Hut each in the Maldives.
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