Google Acquisition Buzz Boosts Just Dial Shares

New Delhi, November 10: Shares of local search engine Just Dial today surged nearly 20% to Rs 549.85 during morning trade on Friday. The surge in shares jumped to a six-month high after a report said tech giant Google is in talks with the Mumbai-based company to acquire its business. The shares rose to Rs 549.85 on Friday against the previous session’s closing of Rs.459 on BSE Sensex on Thursday. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 619.45 on March 17, 2017 and 52-week low of Rs 318.20 on December 27, 2016.
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On account of the sudden surge, NSE has sought clarification from Just Dial on the media report. “With respect to recent news item captioned ‘Google, Just Dial in deal talks’. In this regard, Exchange have advised the Company to provide clarification/confirmation on the news item in detail,” it said. According to reports, NSE further asked Just Dial to explain as to “Whether such negotiations were taking place and b) whether you/company are aware of any information that has not been announced to the Exchanges which could explain the aforesaid movement in the trading.”
Just Dial started offering local search services in 1996 under the Just Dial brand and is now the leading local search engine in India. On November 6, Just Dial reported about 26.5 per cent rise in standalone net profit at Rs 37.5 crore for the September quarter. Just Dial reported a net profit of Rs 29.6 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Its revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 194.4 crore as against Rs 180.3 crore in the year-ago period, up 7.9 per cent.
In the first quarter that ended in June, Just Dial reported about 2 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 38.16 crore for the quarter ended June 30. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 38.93 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. The total income from operations during the June quarter under review stood at Rs 216.65 crore as against Rs 204.95 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal, Just Dial said in a BSE filing.