Indian biscuit maker Mrs Bectors' shares double in market debut (updated)

Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities

24/12/2020 05:31

(Adds context, company background, IPO information)
    BENGALURU, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Shares in Indian biscuit maker
Mrs Bectors Food Specialities Ltd  MRSB.NS  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
 BURG.NS  - 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 500 rupees per share on the
National Stock Exchange, well above the initial public offering
price of 288 rupees.
    At its session high, the company had a market value of 35.25
billion rupees ($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 https://bit.ly/2WKQdS4
 a profit of 304 million rupees and revenue from operations of
7.62 billion rupees, a fall of 8.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
    SBI Capital Markets Limited and ICICI Securities Limited
were among the lead book runners for the IPO.

($1 = 73.6200 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by
Aditya Soni and Uttaresh.V)
 ((AnuronKumar.Mitra@thomsonreuters.com; +91 99863 58469;))