Shares of Linde India gained as much as 8 percent on Tuesday to hit an all-time high of Rs 5,664.1. Today's has now extended its gains in 2023 to over 60 percent.

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The stock gained prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since its Covid-19 low of Rs 378 on March 24, 2020, the stock has surged 15 times.

Linde India has delivered positive annual returns in seven out of the last eight years. The only year it delivered negative returns during this period was in 2019 and that drop was also only 2.7 percent.

Linde India is involved in the manufacturing and distribution of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, argon and other specialty gas mixtures. It also manufactures welding electrodes, rods, fluxes, gas and electric welding equipments along with liquid oxygen explosives.

The company said that it is expecting healthy growth from the healthcare sector and that it expects consolidation, prodctivity improvement and expansion in the steel sector. All these factors are likely to drive gas demand, thereby improving opportunities for the company.

Until 2013, the company was known as BOC India. But after BOC's takeover by Linde Plc, the company was renamed as Linde India. However, it continues to classify BOC as a promoter with a 75 percent shareholding.

Among the future priorities, the company has listed the fast growing pharmaceutical market, demands from chemicals and paints, railways and defence, as well as mobile fill at construction sites. It is also aiming for M&A opportunities in the bulk segment.

For the June quarter, Linde India reported revenue of Rs 721 crore from Rs 630 crore in the March quarter. Its net profit stood flat at Rs 99 crore from Rs 98 crore sequentially.

Interestingly, the new management wanted to take the company private and opened the bidding process at a floor price of Rs 428.50 in January 2019. The price discovered during the reverse bidding process was Rs 2,025, which was nearly 4.7 times higher than the floor price. Promoters rejected the price.

As per the SEBI guidelines, BOC was not allowed to put up another delisting offer for the next six months. The promoters did not put up another offer and Linde remained a public company. Today, the stock has more than doubled even from that discovered price.

Shares of Linde India are currently trading 7 percent higher at Rs 5,615.

First Published:Aug 22, 2023 12:44 PM IST