Mankind Pharma shares bounce back 6% as co clarifies on I-T raid

Shares of Mankind Pharma bounced back 6 per cent in the intra-day trade as investors took cognizance of the company's clarification on raids by Income Tax department.

From a low of Rs 1,356 apiece, the stock vaulted 6 per cent to hit an intra-day high of Rs 1,439. At 12:30 PM, the stock was ruling 2.3 per cent higher at Rs 1,411 per share. By comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.04 per cent.

On Thursday, shares of the recently listed pharmaceutical company had tumbled over 5 per cent in the intra-day tarde after reports said the Income Tax Department was conducting searches at Mankind Pharma Ltd's office in New Delhi. 

 

Later, the company clarified that the Income Tax Department conducted a search at some of the premises/ plants related to the company and some of its subsidiaries. READ HERE

"The officials of the company and its subsidiaries are cooperating with the officials of the Income Tax Department and are responding to the queries raised by them. This has had no impact on our operational performance," it said in an exchange filing.

Once the search by the Income Tax Department concludes, we will update the Stock Exchanges in case of any material information/ event. Mankind Pharma Limited is an ethical and law abiding company and follows the best corporate governance practices. We are extending our full cooperation to the officials of the Income Tax Department in this regard," it added.

Mankind Pharma, India's fourth largest pharmaceutical company, had debuted on the bourses on Tuesday, May 9. Shares of the company had jumped more than 32 per cent during their stock market debut, thanks to a strong follow up demand from institutional investors. This was the best listing day performance of a stock in nearly six months.

Despite Thursday's fall, the stock of the pharmaceutical company — popular for its Manforce brand of condoms and Prega News pregnancy test kit — is trading 31 per cent higher than its issue price of Rs 1,080 on the BSE. 

Macquarie initiated coverage on the company with an ‘outperform’ rating and price target of Rs 1,400 based on 25 times its estimated earnings per share (EPS) of Rs 56 in the 2025-26 financial year (FY26).  

“Mankind Pharma appears to be well positioned to double its net profit by FY26,” the brokerage said in a note. “We believe continued sales outperformance to the India market, focus on chronic therapies and improved salesforce productivity are growth drivers.”