J&K’s Prime Rice Exporter Announces To Enter Market

Srinagar Sarveshwar Foods Limited, J&K’s major rice exporter is planning to enter the capital market and it announced its IPO plans here on Saturday. The Initial Public Offer (IPO) involves 64,67,200 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each, Company Managing Director Rohit Gupta said.

Sarveshwar is engaged in the business of processing and marketing of branded and un-branded basmati and non-basmati rice in the domestic and international markets. Among others CFO of the company J K Jain, Dr Gayatri Tandon Senior official of the company and Asit S Mehta, MD CO- lead manager to issue Asit C Mehta investment intermediates limited was also present on the occasion. Gupta said that the funds raised through the public issue are proposed to be utilized for part finance of working capital requirement, investment in a subsidiary, meeting the expenses of the offer and general corporate purposes. He said that 1/3 of IPO funds will be towards development of organic trade and farming and 2/3 to offload company debts. Gupta said that the Issue is being made through the Book Built Process wherein 50% of the Net Issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Retail Investors, and balance 50% of the Net Issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Non-Retail Investors. “The equity shares are proposed to be listed on the SME Platform of National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE)”, he said. Sarveshwar Foods Limited, established in 2004 and headquartered in Gummat in Jammu & Kashmir, is primarily engaged in the business of processing and marketing of various types of rice in the domestic and international markets. The company currently operates through two rice milling and processing facilities i.e. at Seora (Unit I) and SIDCO (Unit II), Gupta added. The Company not only deals with both branded and non-branded rice being grown using both the conventional as well as the organic method but also deals in other organic products such as dry fruits, pulses, lentil, flours, porridge, spices, flax seeds, etc. The Company is ISO 22000:2005 certified and also holds BRC & HACCP certifications, valid APEDA registration, and USFDA & GFSI Certification from Costco Wholesale.M/S Sarveshwar Foods, Jammu is coming up with Initial Public Offer (IPO) first ever SME IPO of the state. He said that 8500 farmers in Jammu and Kashmir are already benefitted in rice-wheat and organic crops and number of farmers attached in organic farming will be further befitted as approx 1/3 of IPO funds will be towards development of organic trade and farming only was main highlight besides past performance and future projects of the co and 2/3 IPO funds to offload company debts.Gupta said that the Company has successfully converted more than 9000 Acres of conventional agricultural land into “Organic Farming”. These farmers have been issued certifications under National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) & National Organic Programme (NOP) due to adherence to the standards of organic agricultural methods that are internationally set and regulated by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). “For Six (6) months period ended September 30, 2017, and fiscal 2017, the total revenues on a consolidated basis were Rs 2571 million, Rs 4,178 million respectively and net profit after tax as restated were Rs 79.29 million, Rs 129.64 million respectively. Out of the above, the export sales for six (6) months period ended September 30, 2017, and fiscal 2017 were Rs. 204 million, Rs 438 million respectively, and the domestic sales were Rs 1,328 million, Rs 3,741 million respectively,” Gupta added.