Heard on the Street: ‘Non-veg investors’ lap up Speciality Restaurant

Speciality Restaurant, which debuted at a 7% premium on the bourses on Wednesday, extended gains on Thursday. The market buzz is that the lack of interest in the stock among certain investors and traders, who are strict vegetarians, has helped it sustain gains.

These influential investors usually do not invest in companies that manufacture or sell alcohol, non-vegetarian food, leather, among other things. Speciality manages brands like Mainland China, Machaan, Oh! Calcutta and Just Biriyani that serve nonvegetarian food. Many of these deep-pocketed investors are known to subscribe to IPOs with an intention to sell on the listing day.

According to brokers, most institutional investors have added Speciality Restaurant in their mid-term portfolio, which eliminates an immediate sell-off risk. Shares of Speciality Restaurant ended 4.9% higher at Rs 168.65 on Thursday.