Meet India’s wealthiest non-promoter CEO whose net worth is Rs 3,128 crore

CFO of the company is the third richest professional in the country with a net worth of Rs 666 crore.

New Delhi: Avenue Supermart, the company that made its promoter Radhakishan Damani India’s second-richest person within three years of its stock market debut, also made its chief executive officer Ignatius Navil Noronha India’s richest non-promoter CEO.

With a net worth of R 3,128 crore, Noronha has emerged as the richest non-promoter CEO in the country putting behind HDFC Bank’s CEO Aditya Puri, whose net worth stands at Rs 943 crore.

According to a report, Noronha has 1.34 crore shares of Avenue Supermart, whose value has risen nearly 670% since its listing on March 21, 2017. As of 2:35 pm, shares of Avenue Supermart, which runs DMart stores, traded 0.60% lower at Rs 2,325.30 apiece as compared to its previous closing price of Rs 2,339.45. Avenue Supermart shares were issued at Rs 299 in the IPO.

Avenue Supermart’s CFO Ramakant Baheti is the third-richest professional in India with a net worth of Rs 666 crore. According to the ET report, he has 28.30 lakh shares of Avenue Supermart. The net worth calculation mentioned here is purely based on the stock they own in the company they lead. This calculation has not taken into consideration his salary and other compensation elements and their other assets.

Shares of Avenue Supermarts rallied sharply after the company announced a share sale for institutional investors on February 5. The company raised about Rs 4,000 crore at Rs 2,049 apiece. On Thursday, promoters of the company announced the offer for sale of 2.28% at a base price of Rs 2,049, a discount of 20% to the prevailing market price.

Analysts say despite expensive valuation, stock performance of Avenue Supermarts has not yet been affected. Out of the 25 brokerages that cover Avenue, 11 have a buy rating, while 9 have a sell. The average target price on the stock by analysts is Rs 1,897, 20% lower than the current market price of Rs 2,325. Brokers said low floating stock and relatively stronger profitability have ensured that the stock has been a D-Street favourite,

In the December quarter, Avenue Supermarts reported a 53.3% year-on-year rise in standalone profit at Rs 394 crore, compared with Rs 257 crore in the year-ago quarter.