Hindujas sell 3% in Gokaldas to comply with listing norms

BANGALORE: Hinduja brothers, the promoters of the country’s largest apparel exporter, Gokaldas Exports, have off-loaded close to a 3% stake (or slightly over 5 lakh shares).

As of June 30, ’06 the promoter holding in Gokaldas Exports stood at 76.91%. Besides, the three brothers, 217,780 shares (amounting to 1.27%) held by the Dayawanti J Hinduja was also sold. While the price at which the stake sale happened is not known, the deal is valued to be at Rs 43.9 crore at current market price.

Some portion of the stake sold has been picked up by leading private mutual fund — ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund — whose stake in the company rose to 5.41% from 3.95%. Confirming the move to divest part of the holding, an official of the company said that this was done to comply with Sebi guidelines, which mandates that listed firms need to have a minimum float of 25%.

Officials said that the resources raised through the stake sale would be used for investing in the group’s expansion plans. It maybe recalled that Gokaldas Exports has evinced interest in setting up an apparel / textile special economic zone (SEZ) in the state. The SEZ, which would be spread over 400 acres, will be set up by a group company — Gokuldas Exports Apparel & Textile Park — at Kanakpura. When fully operational, the SEZ would provide employment to 50,000 people.

For the first quarter (Q1) ended June 30, ’06, the company’s net profit rose by 16.16% to touch Rs 13.51 crore (Rs 11.63 crore), while the total income rose by 24.5% year-on-year at Rs 224 crore (Rs 180 crore). Q1 saw the company reporting a higher EBIDTA margin at 10.43% (10.24% for Q1 of FY06).