It took just eight trading sessions for Everest Kanto Cylinders to double investors’ wealth amid the acute shortage of oxygen cylinders due to rising Covid-19 cases in the country. The scrip has climbed to Rs 147.25 on April 26 from Rs 70.70 on April 12. On the other hand, the benchmark BSE Sensex has gained just 0.13% during the same period.
The country has been grappling with a ravaging coronavirus crisis that has put enormous pressure on healthcare infrastructure. India logged a record of 3,52,991 new coronavirus infections in a day on April 26, taking its total tally of Covid-19 cases to 1,73,13,163. The death toll increased to 1,95,123 with a record 2,812 daily new fatalities.
To combat the growing demand for oxygen in the country, India has reached out to various countries to procure containers and oxygen cylinders under operation ‘Oxygen Maitri’.
Saudi Arabia is shipping 80 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen to India as the country is running low on supplies due to an unprecedented spike in coronavirus cases. “Embassy of India is proud to partner with Adani group and M/s Linde in shipping much-needed 80MT liquid oxygen to India. Our heartfelt thanks to the Ministry of Health Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for all their help, support, and cooperation,” the Indian mission in Riyadh tweeted on Sunday.
Commenting on the spike in volume, Everest Kanto Cylinders in a clarification to exchanges said that it has promptly disclosing all the events, information and price-sensitive information which have a bearing on the operations or the performance of the company. The scrip hit the upper circuit of 10% on Monday. Other oxygen majors including Linde India and Bhagwati Oxygen were up 3% and 5%, respectively. National Oxygen traded 1.94% higher at Rs 63.15.
The company is India’s largest player in high-pressure gas cylinders with a market share of around 50%. Everest Kanto Cylinders has around a 150-strong client base from diverse verticals including automobile, city gas distribution, industrials, cylinder cascades, medical sector, firefighting equipment and defence.
“Oxygen-related companies are in momentum zone. The demand for oxygen is likely to remain high as long as the Covid number remains up. Any dip in Linde India and Everest Kanto Cylinders can be a buying opportunity for investors. They should go with diversifying models which are not purely dependent on oxygen,” said Kranthi Bathini of WealthMills Securities.
