Burman family of Dabur buys 0.28% stake in Eveready Industries India Ltd

The Burman family of Dabur has acquired 0.28% in Eveready Industries India Ltd from the open market, taking the cumulative shareholding in the dry cell battery maker to 20.68%, as per a stock market notification on Monday. The acquisition of these shares has been done by five holding firms of the promoter group.

In February, the Burmans had given a mandate to JM Financial Services to buy an additional 5.26% stake in Eveready from the market when it was holding 19.8% in the business. It has also made an open offer for an additional 26% stake in Eveready. The Burmans have been acquiring shares of Eveready as personal investment since 2020 and have said they will run Dabur and Eveready as distinct separate entities.

Eveready on Monday also declared its fourth quarter results, whereby standalone revenue from operation fell by 11.5% at Rs 241.23 crore in the January to March quarter while the company’s net loss came down to Rs 38.39 crore as compared to a net loss of Rs 441.19 crore in the corresponding quarter.

For 2021-22, Eveready’s revenue from operation fell by 3.4% at Rs 1206.75 crore, while the company turned profitable with net profit of Rs 47.48 crore as compared to a net loss of Rs 309.13 crore in FY21. The company’s board did not suggest any dividend for last financial year.

In an investor update, Eveready management said the just concluded January to March quarter continued to experience lower demand in all categories due to high inflation and there were significant input cost increases due to supply chain disruptions with overall inflationary pressures impacting margins severely. The company said the price increases taken to offset this resulted in market resistance.

It said the flashlight category continued to suffer on account of dumped imports from China, while the full year was adversely impacted due to the above factors in the last two quarters. Eveready said it has appointed Bain & Company for advice on improving operational efficiencies and strategy, and has undertaken cost rationalization initiatives to offset some of the inflationary impact. It expects these will help to improve profitability in 2022-23

The Eveready scrip fell 0.98% to close at Rs 319.1 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday when the benchmark Sensex closed at a fall of 1.08%.