Burger King's stellar debut puts spotlight on QSR stks; Westlife soars 13%

Shares of BKIL were locked in the 20% upper circuit band, at Rs 199.25, on the BSE for the third straight day

Shares of companies engaged in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) business were in focus on Wednesday as the stock of recently listed Burger King India (BKIL) was locked in upper circuit of 20 per cent for the third straight day, following a stellar debut at the bourses on Monday.

Shares of Westlife Development rallied as much as 13 per cent to Rs 476 on the BSE on the back of a six-fold jump in trading volumes. The stock was trading close to its 52-week high of Rs 500, touched on February 4, 2020.

Westlife Development focuses on putting up and operating QSR in India through its subsidiary Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. The company operates a chain of McDonald's restaurants in west and south India, having a master franchisee relationship with McDonald's Corporation USA, through the latter's Indian subsidiary.

Meanwhile, shares of BKIL were locked in the 20 per cent upper circuit band, at Rs 199.25, on the BSE and also hit a new high. On December 14, the stock closed at Rs 138.40, clocking a 130-per cent premium over its issue price of Rs 60. With the past two days' gain, the stock has rallied 232 per cent from its issue price.

Foreign portfolio investor Valiant Mauritius Partners Offshore purchased 2.5 million equity shares of BKIL, worth Rs 32.57 crore, via bulk deal on the NSE on Monday. The foreign portfolio investor bought shares at price of Rs 130.28 per share, data show.

The subsidiary of the US-based fast food chain Burger King is one of the fastest growing international QSR chains in India.

Among other individual stocks, Speciality Restaurants was up 9 per cent at Rs 51.50 today, surging 22 per cent in the past three trading days on the BSE. Jubilant FoodWorks, on the other hand, was up 2 per cent at Rs 2,642 today. It scaled a record high of Rs 2,678 on Monday in the intra-day trade. The company has the exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino's Pizza brand in India Sri Lanka Bangladesh and Nepal.