Gurugram-based spectacle maker and retailer Lenskart regained its ground by at least 1 per cent on the stock market on Tuesday morning after it slipped 3 per cent following an open market transaction involving the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The ADIA cut its stake in Lenskart from 9.77 per cent to 7.76 per cent on Monday, offloading a 2.01 per cent stake for ₹2,390 crore through an open market transaction on the National Stock Exchange.
The sovereign wealth fund executed the bulk deal via its affiliate, Platinum Jasmine A 2018 Trust, selling 3.5 crore shares at an average price of ₹683.02 apiece.
Despite the cut in stake, the Abu Dhabi fund still remains the second-largest public shareholder of Lenskart. Japanese technology investor SoftBank is the largest public shareholder. The identities of the buyers accumulating these shares have not been disclosed in the exchange data.
While the market reacted cautiously on Monday, Tuesday morning seems to have given investors a clearer vision, pushing the stock back up.
However, the latest block deal became the latest in a chain of early institutional backers booking returns from the eyewear major. Earlier this year, in June, SoftBank booked profits by divesting a 3.25 per cent stake for ₹2,873 crore.
If we look at the fundamentals, Lenskart has seen its profitability affected by headwinds, but it continues to post aggressive top-line growth.
Lenskart posted a 45.62 per cent year-on-year surge in revenue from operations of ₹2,516 crore for the March quarter, but its consolidated profit after tax shrank by 7.5 per cent to ₹203.6 crore. The company explained this slump in profit as a byproduct of higher inventory expenses and optical component costs as it scaled its supply chain ops.
