Indian tyre manufacturer shares surge over Easter

The share prices of India’s leading tyre companies surged in value on Good Friday prior to the Easter weekend. Overall shares of Indian tyre companies shot up by up to 17 per cent, accompanied by heavy volumes reportedly due to “expectations of higher revenue growth during the current fiscal”, according to local news sources. Apollo Tyres, Ceat, Goodyear India, JK Tyre Industries, Balkrishna Industries and TVS Srichakra all rose by between 4 and 17 per cent each on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) during Friday’s trading.

Part of this price bubble saw Apollo Tyres set a new record high on Friday 17 April, closing at 178.90 rupees a share. Earlier Apollo Tyres soared 8 per cent from its opening price to reach 175 rupees, also a new high on the BSE. At that point a combined 10 million shares are said to have changed hands. After the weekend the price retreated back circa 167 rupees, still more than double its value a year ago.

According to market watchers, Apollo Tyres is benefitting from low input prices which are driving profitability in its Indian operations. Meanwhile the company’s European subsidiary is expected to benefit from the “macro-recovery in the continent”, according to the Business Standard. This is exemplified by double digit-volume growth at Vredestein driven by gains in the summer tyre segment, a detail picked up by a JP Morgan analyst.

JK Tyre surged 17 per cent to 211 rupees on 17 April. Ceat rose 10 per cent to 402 rupees on the BSE on Friday as well.