The arrest and the subsequent remand of Andhra Pradesh former Chief Minister and President of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) N Chandrababu Naidu seems to have dragged the shares of Heritage Foods, promoted by his wife N Bhuvaneswari and daughter-in-law Brahmani.

The shares fell by 11.38 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday to trade at ₹224.30, down by ₹28.80 over the previous day’s close. It reported a spurt of 1.48 times in trade volumes on Tuesday. Yesterday, the volumes went up by 4.45 times.

While Bhuvaneswari is the Vice-President and Managing Director, Brahmani is the Executive Director of the company.

The company’s shares touched the 52-week high of ₹287.20 on July 24, after witnessing a 52-week low of ₹135.65 in March 2023.

The developments in Andhra Pradesh over the weekend must have triggered a concern leading to the fall since yesterday. The scrip, which was opened at ₹271.95 on Monday morning, closed at ₹253.20. “The increase in volume is purely market-driven,” the company informed the BSE.

Replying to a query from the exchange, it said the company was regularly intimating all the events and information that have a bearing on its operation and performance.

Naidu was arrested and shifted to Rajamahendravaram jail after he was remanded by the ACB court in Vijayayawda on Sunday. He was arrested in the skill development scam. Even as his lawyers are busy filing petitions requesting squash of the FIR, house arrest and bail, the Andhra Pradesh police are reportedly preparing grounds for his arrest in a scam involving land around the Inner Ring Road at the State’s new Capital Amaravati. Naidu was named A1 in the case

Source : The Hindu Businessline Sep 12th 2023