Whirlpool shares jump 8%; BSE seeks clarification on 'Bosch weighs offer for appliance maker' report

Shares of Whirlpool of India Ltd on Thursday rose sharply to scale their one-year high levels. The stock surged 19.23 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,190.05. It eventually settled 8.37 per cent higher at Rs 1,990.70.

Today's sharp jump in the share price came after a news report, citing sources, claimed that German engineering group Robert Bosch is weighing a bid for US appliances manufacturer Whirlpool. BSE has sought clarification from the company over the report titled, "Bosch weighs offer for appliance maker Whirlpool, say sources." And, the reply is awaited.

"The combined market share for Bosch Ltd and Whirlpool is roughly about 19-20 per cent in the consumer durable space. And, Bosch is aggressively looking at increasing its market share in India. Whirpool (stock) has not delivered in the last two to three years, despite the fact its balance sheet is good, there's no debt and the product portfolio is also good," Avinash Gorakshakar, Director of Research at ProfitMart Securities told Business Today TV.

Unless we get more clarity on this global deal, the Whirlpool stock will continue to remain in the limelight, Gorakshakar added.

On BSE, Whirlpool's stock saw high trading volume as around 73,000 shares changed hands. The figure was higher than the two-week average volume of 18,000 shares. Turnover on the counter came at Rs 14.71 crore, commanding a market capitalisation of Rs 25,256.38 crore.

The counter traded higher than the 5-day, 10-, 20-, 30-, 50-, 100-, 150-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs). The counter's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) came at 80.48. A level below 30 is defined as oversold while a value above 70 is considered overbought.

The company's stock has a price-to-equity (P/E) ratio of 150.90 against a price-to-book (P/B) value of 7.83. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at 13.19 with a return on equity of 5.19.

In addition, Bosch shares zoomed 7.03 per cent in intraday trade to hit a one-year high of Rs 36,577.95. The stock later closed with 2.32 per cent gains at Rs 34,968.35.