Shares of Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) hit upper circuit of 20 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday amid strong volume. A PSU under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers, the company's shares have rallied 253 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 21.55 as on March 13, 2020, on the back of strong demand for fertilisers due to record Kharif and Rabi crop sowing. Investors' appetite for agri-related stocks have increased, thanks to rebound in rural demand despite the coronavirus pandemic and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Early today, FACT stock opened higher at Rs 66 against the previous closing price of Rs 63.4 on the BSE. During the day's trade, the stock hit upper circuit of 19.95 per cent to touch 52-week high of Rs 76.05. The market cap of the company surged to Rs 2,637.20 crore. Meanwhile, the BSE SENSEX ended 689 points or 1.43 per cent higher at 48,782.
On the volume front, there was surge in buying as 5.01 lakh shares changed hands over the counter as compared to two-week average volume of 1.21 lakh shares on the BSE.
For second quarter ended September 30, 2020, the company reported all-time high operating profit of Rs 83.07 crore as compared to Rs 6.26 crore in the year-ago period. The company posted revenue of Rs 1,047 crore for Q2 FY21, as compared to Rs 931 crore during the same period last year.
Established in 1943, FACT has a strong brand recall of its key product "Factamfos" in southern India with 62 per cent market share of NPKS fertilisers sold in Kerala and 7.6 per cent share of NPKS sold in India during FY19. The company operates two manufacturing plants in Udyogamandal and Cochin and produced 0.63 million metric tonnes of factamfos (100% of capacity) during FY19. It has access to more than 6,250 dealers across southern India. As on March 31, 2018, the Indian government owned 98.56 per cent of the company's equity share capital. It is based in Kerala and has its registered office in Kochi.