IndiGo shares rise for a third day after Morgan Stanley picks up stake

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates the IndiGo airline, rose for a third consecutive session on Tuesday, March 12, after investment bank Morgan Stanley picked up stake in India’s biggest airline.

The aviation stock rose as much as 2.2% on Tuesday to hit an intra-day high of ₹3,288 apiece. At 2:20 pm, shares of IndiGo airline were trading at ₹3,278.9 apiece, up 1.88%, on NSE. The stock has risen a cumulative 6.3% in the past three sessions.

On Monday, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte bought 21 lakh shares, amounting to 0.5% stake, in IndiGo. The shares were bought through open market transactions at a price of ₹3,015.10 apiece, according to data available on exchanges.

The seller was IndiGo’s promoter Rakesh Gangwal who offloaded a total of 2.25 crore shares in the company, or 5.8% stake, for ₹6,785 crore via the bulk deal.

Gangwal’s stake in IndiGo now stands at 6% after the transaction, with the promoter group’s holding in the company falling to 57.3%, according to exchange data.

Gangwal and his family have been trimming their stake in the company via bulk deals on exchanges for the past two years.

In February 2022, Gangwal had resigned from the airline’s board and announced that he would cut his stake in IndiGo over the coming five years.

Gangwal had sold a 4% stake in IndiGo for ₹2,900 crore in February 2023. Earlier, in September 2022, he had offloaded 2.8% stake worth ₹2,000 crore.

Meanwhile, IndiGo has been posting healthy financial numbers in the recent quarters. In the December quarter, the company recorded consolidated net profit of ₹2,998 crore, up 111% from ₹1,423 crore a year ago. Revenue from operations had also jumped 30% year-on-year to ₹19,452 crore during the December quarter.