Homegrown winery Sula Vineyards has witnessed a sharp rise in its share price in recent times after making a muted debut on the stock exchanges last month. The share price of the country’s largest wine producer has been gaining for seven straight sessions and rallied 33% during the same period after it reported strong business growth in the December quarter.
Continuing its gaining streak, Sula Vineyards share price rose 2% to hit a fresh high of ₹432 in intraday trade on the BSE, in sync with the broader market. Earlier today, the stock opened marginally lower at ₹422.15, against the previous closing price of ₹423.50, but soon regained momentum. In comparison, the BSE Sensex gained as much as 0.8% to 61,113 levels, led by IT and tech stocks.
With a market capitalisation of ₹3,600 crore, Sula Vineyards shares have risen 21% against the initial public offering (IPO) issue price of Rs ₹357 apiece. It touched an all-time low of ₹305.55 on December 26, 2022.
Sula Vineyards made its debut on the domestic bourses on December 22, 2022, after raising ₹960 crore from an initial public offering (IPO), which opened between December 12-14. The issue of the Nashik-based company, which was entirely an offer for sale (OFS), received lower-than-expected response from investors with the issue subscribing by just 2.33 times. The price band for the issue was ₹340-357 apiece with a lot size of 42 shares. This means a retail investor can make a maximum investment of ₹194,922 to buy up to 13 lots or 546 shares.
Established in 2003, Sula Vineyards is India's largest and only listed wine producer, with over 50% share in the domestic wine business. It owns some popular brands including RASA, Dindori, The source, Satori, Madera & Dia, with its flagship brand Sula being the "category creator" of wine in India.
Sula Vineyards released its sales update for the December quarter of the current fiscal (Q3 FY23) on January 13, which showed that the company recorded its highest-ever quarterly gross billings overall, both for its own brands as well as the wine tourism business. The company reported a 13% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its own brands sales at ₹187.2 crore in Q3 FY23, compared to ₹165.7 crore in the year ago period, driven by strong volume and higher realisations. For the nine months ended on December 31, 2022, gross billings of its own brands jumped 28% to ₹391.5 crore against ₹306.1 crore in the same period last fiscal.
Meanwhile, the wine tourism business posted a growth of 13% to ₹23 crore in Q3FY23, from ₹20.3 crore in the corresponding period last year. For the nine months ending December 31, 2022, it rose 48% to Rs ₹58.6 crore from ₹39.7 crore in the year ago period.
