Upadhyaya acquires 2,00,000 shares of Annapurna Swadisht

Mumbai, Mar 01: Ace investor AjayUpadhyaya has bought an additional 2,00,000 shares in Annapurna Swadisht. His total holding in the company has increased to 3,75,000 shares.

As per corporate shareholdings filed for December 31, 2023, Ajay Upadhyaya publicly holds 17 stocks spread across engineering, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceutical and steel (medium and small) among others, with a net worth of over Rs. 858 crores.

Kolkata-based packaged food and beverages company, Annapurna Swadisht, which caters primarily to the rural and semi urban markets of India, has been witnessing a steady growth in business. For the half year ended September 30, 2023, the company reported a near 100 per cent surge in revenue from operations at Rs 131.14 crore as compared with Rs 65.70 crore registered in the same period last year. The company's profit after tax increased by 128 per cent to Rs 6.56 crore during the period under review compared with close to Rs 2.88 crore reported in the same period last fiscal.

The company aims to nearly double its revenue in 2023-24 to close to Rs 275-300 crore and maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of at least 50 per cent plus over the next 4-5 years backed by increased market penetration and expansion into two major categories: biscuits and noodles apart from its traditional offerings.

Annapurna Swadisht currently has close to 72 SKUs across 10 broad categories including fryums, namkeens, snacks, candies and cakes in its portfolio and the products are available across over 6 lakh retail touchpoints primarily in the Tier III and Tier IV markets of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

ASL has five owned manufacturing units spread across West Bengal at Asansol, Siliguri, Gurap, Dhulagarh, and three leasing/ contractual arrangements at Ganjam (Odisha), Siliguri (WB) and Mathura (UP).

The company got listed on the NSE-SME platform in September 2022 and raised close to Rs 30.25 crore through an initial public offering at a valuation of Rs 114.95 crore. It had also raised close to Rs 65.43 crore through a preferential issue of equity shares and warrants by the end of September 2023.

Annapurna Swadisht has a market cap of Rs 687 crore.