Hotel Leela rises 12% on debt repayment buzz

Shares of hospitality major Hotel Leelaventure have been on a rise amid buzz its promoters are repaying debt to free their holdings from pledge. This has helped improve investor sentiment for the stock which had slipped to a low of Rs 27.6 in December last year.

On Thursday, Hotel Leelaventure spurted 12% to Rs 39 on significantly higher volumes of nearly four lakh shares, compared with the 2-week average of 84,000 shares on the BSE. This followed its disclosures to stock exchanges about the release of pledge on over 17 lakh shares owned by Leela Lace Holdings, one of the promoter group companies, in the past few weeks.

December 31, 2011, nearly 43% of the combined promoter holding was pledged with lenders. Hotel Leelventure's promoters have also been frequenting the secondary market to raise their holdings through creeping acquisition of shares. Since April last year, another promoter entity Leela Lace Software Solutions has raised its stake in the company from 4.3% to 6.3%.