Aster DM surges 14%, hits new high on special dividend of Rs 118 per share

Shares of Aster DM Healthcare hit a new high of Rs 558.30 as they surged 14 per cent on the BSE in Monday's intraday trade after the company announced a special dividend of Rs 118 per share. The stock of the hospital firm surpassed its previous high of Rs 500, touched on April 8, 2024.

At 09:24 am, Aster DM was trading 11 per cent higher at Rs 540.50 as compared to 0.86 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. Average trading volume on the counter jumped over four-fold in early delas with a combined 5.8 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.

The Board of Aster DM Healthcare has approved declaration of a special dividend of Rs 118 per share payable to those shareholders whose names stand on the register of members of the company as on the record date (April 23, 2024), the company said in an exchange filing after market hours on Friday.

The special dividend will be paid within 30 days from the date of the declaration. The board has decided not to declare an interim dividend for the financial year 2023-24, the company added.

Meanwhile, on the bourses, the stock has rallied 37 per cent in the past two weeks after Aster DM and GCC announced the completion of the separation of its India and GCC businesses on April 3.

Under the separation plan, a consortium of investors led by Fajr Capital, a sovereign-backed private equity firm, acquired a 65 per cent stake in Aster GCC, the company had said in its statement.

The Moopen family, on the other hand, retained a 35 per cent stake alongside management and operational rights, it added. In the Indian operations, the Moopen family will continue to hold 41.88 per cent stake.

"The transaction has now concluded, pursuant to which Affinity Holdings Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company) has received a cash consideration of $907.6 million," the healthcare firm said.

Moreover, the management said the current Indian healthcare market looks promising and, post segregation, the company's efforts will be to dynamically increase footprint in India. Through both greenfield and brownfield opportunities, the company aims to take its total bed tally in India to over 6,600 in the coming three years and scale up labs and pharmacy business to emerge as the top three integrated healthcare providers in India.

The company plans to add 1,700 beds by FY27 through the organic route and will further look for expansion through the inorganic route as well to be among the top three hospital chains in India.

The expansion plan will encompass a mix of brownfield and greenfield projects, encompassing the upcoming Aster Capital in Trivandrum, and Aster MIMS Kasargod and adding bed capacity to the existing hospitals. The company will also be looking at potential markets such as Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The capital allocation for this expansion is in the range of Rs 1,000 crore.