Pipe manufacturer Astral’s board of directors in their meeting held on Tuesday, February 07, 2023, considered and approved the issue of bonus shares in the proportion of 1:3, or 1 equity share for every three shares held as of the record date. The Company has fixed Tuesday, March 14, 2023, as the Record Date, for the purpose of ascertaining the eligibility of shareholders entitled to the issue.
The bonus will be issued out of free reserves and/or the securities premium account of the company, available as of March 14, 2023. The pre-bonus paid-up equity share capital was at ₹ 20,14,58,679, consisting of 20,14,58,679 equity shares of ₹ 1 each on February 07, 2023. The post-bonus paid-up equity share capital is expected to be around ₹ 26,86, 11,572 consisting of 26,86,11,572 equity shares of ₹ 1 each. It is estimated that the bonus shares will be credited/ dispatched within two months from the date of board approval, i.e., by April 06, 2023.
On a consolidated basis, Astral reported a 15% increase in revenue from operations of ₹ 1267.8 crores in the October to December quarter of 2022, against ₹ 1102.7 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. However, its net profit decreased by 23.7% to ₹ 94.9 crores against ₹ 127.9 crore in the same period a year ago.
The company’s shares have given multibagger returns of 126.55% in the past three years. Therefore if an investor would have invested ₹ 1 lakh in the company’s shares five years ago, the value of their holdings would have been ₹ 2.26 lakh today.
Astral Limited is a large-cap company that operates in the industrial sector. Its shares closed at ₹ 2038.60 apiece on Wednesday. The company manufactures plumbing and drainage systems and has also forayed into the adhesive business over the years. It is a mid-cap company with a market capitalization of ₹ 41,794 crores. It has an ideal return on equity of 22.86% and an ideal debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.
Written by Simran Bafna
Source: Marketbeat