Mrs Bectors Food Specialties Doubles On Debut, After Listing At 74% Premium

Shares in biscuit maker Mrs Bectors Food Specialities Ltd more than doubled in their market debut on Thursday, in a 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 Rs 540 crore 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 3,525 crore.

Mrs Bectors will use proceeds from the fresh issue of 14 lakh shares in its IPO to set up a biscuit production line in Punjab.

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

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