Shares of Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar extended their gaining streak for the fourth straight session on Tuesday after the cash-strapped company cleared all overdues to its lenders. The stock has rallied as much as 56% in the past four sessions after the Bajaj Group company in an exchange filing said it made payment of its entire dues, including interest and principal amount, to the banks. The sentiment was further boosted after a report suggested that India’s sugar output may drop by 7% in the marketing year beginning October 1, which may push prices higher.
Continuing its upward movement, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar opened higher at ₹16.44 on Tuesday, against the previous closing price of ₹16.22 on the BSE. During the session, the stock gained as much as 7.45% to hit an intraday high of ₹17.42, before settling at ₹16.78, up 3.45%. The stock had hit 20% upper circuit in the last two sessions.
Despite the recent rally, the share trades 26% lower than its 52-week high of ₹22.58 touched on April 22, 2022. However, the penny stock has more than doubled from its 52-week low of ₹8.37 on August 17, 2022. The market capitalisation currently stands at ₹2,143.41 crore.
Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar shares have witnessed sharp volatility in the current calendar year, hitting its 52-week high and low in April and August, respectively. The sugar stock gained 10.6% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, while it climbed over 16% in the past six months. In the last one month, the stock saw surge in buying activities, with its share price zooming nearly 50% during this period.
Last week, the company in a BSE filing informed regarding the payment of overdues to its lenders. “We have paid entire overdues towards term loan installments (till September 2022), term loan interests (till November 2022) and Optionally Convertible Debentures (OCD) coupon (payable for FY2022) to all the lenders,” the company said in a BSE filing on December 2.
As per the company, there are no overdues in its account and it is fully regular with all the lenders as of date.
Bajaj Hindusthan, the largest sugar manufacturer in India, had defaulted on the payment of interest and the principal amount on loans from banks and debt securities on October 31, 2022. It had total outstanding dues (term loan and working capital loan) of ₹4,640.54 by the end of October 2022.
Meanwhile, it paid ₹43 crore up to October 30, 2022, towards the principal installment of ₹108.6 crore of September 2022, while the principal installment of ₹65.60 crore is still due.
Founded in 1931, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar is Asia’s number 1 and world’s fourth largest integrated sugar company with a successful global presence. The company has pinned 14 sugar plants across different parts of Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, being the pioneers of the country’s ethanol program, it has now increased its production capacity to nearly 218 million litres per year to meet the emerging market demand.
