Elder Pharma crashes to 52-week low, promoters deny sale

Elder Pharma shares extended their slide on Monday, with the stock crashing another 10 per cent in early trade. Elder Pharma shares are down 40 per cent over the last week since May 06, 2013 and are trading at a 52-week low.

Shares in the Mumbai based drugmaker traded at Rs 225 on the National Stock Exchange as of 11.35 a.m., down 10 per cent against a 0.2 per cent gain in the BSE Pharma benchmark.

"On 10th and 11th instants Ratnakar Bank Ltd. have sold shares of our Company in the market because of which the market price of the shares has come down and volume also has increased," Elder Pharma said in a statement filed with the exchanges today.

Elder Pharma shares fell 12.48 per cent on May 10 and 19.93 per cent on May 11. On Friday, Elder Pharma saw delivery of over 2 lakh share, which was the highest delivery volume in one year. Ratnakar Bank alone sold 1.4 lakh shares on Friday, which represented 0.68 per cent stake in the company.

Ratnakar Bank, a private equity backed company, has roots in rural parts of Maharashtra and makes about one-third of its loans to farmers, small businesses and low-income consumers.

Elder Pharma clarified that neither the promoters nor persons acting in concert have sold any shares in the market.  Elder Pharma promoters hold 39 per cent stake in the company, but over 80 per cent of shares are pledged.