Bandhan MF raises Sobha stake to 9.07% as half-year sales jump 47%

Bandhan Mutual Fund has raised its stake in Sobha Limited to 9.0677 per cent of the company's paid-up equity share capital. The fund bought 2,183,115 shares on the open market between 8 May 2026 and 26 October 2026, according to a disclosure it filed on 26 October 2026 under Regulation 29(2) of the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations. Its holding was 7.0264 per cent before the purchases.

How the stake was built

After the purchases, the fund holds 9,697,349 shares, up from 7,514,234. Of the shares bought in the window, 124,044 were acquired on 26 October 2026, the day of the filing. Bandhan AMC, the fund's investment manager, made the disclosure. The buying follows an earlier step: Bandhan Small Cap Fund acquired 72,000 shares on 7 May 2026, taking the holding to 7.0264 per cent. In September 2025, the fund had raised its holding to 5.0114 per cent.

The company, formerly Sobha Developers Limited, is a Bengaluru-based listed developer. Its board approved unaudited results for the second quarter and the half year ended 30 September 2026 on 19 October 2026, a week before the stake disclosure.

Half-year numbers

• H1 FY27 sales value: ₹5,862 crore, up 47.2% year on year. The company called it its strongest half-year.
• Q2 FY27 sales value: ₹2,206 crore, up 16%, covering 1.42 million sq ft across 828 units.
• Average realisation in Q2: ₹15,522 per sq ft, against ₹13,648 a year earlier, up 13.7%.
• H1 revenue: ₹2,347 crore, down 1%. Q2 revenue was ₹1,017 crore.
• Profit after tax: ₹33 crore in Q2 and ₹84 crore in H1, with H1 PAT down 2.6%.
• H1 collections: a record ₹4,009 crore, up 4.8%.

By region, Bengaluru contributed ₹3,385 crore, or 57.7 per cent of H1 sales. The NCR accounted for 33.7 per cent and Kerala for 6.1 per cent. Knight Frank India reported that Bengaluru recorded 27,968 residential sales in H1 2026, up 5 per cent, making it the fastest-growing residential market among India's eight largest cities.

The company said it expects at least 50 per cent PAT growth in FY27 and sees EBITDA margins improving in the second half. Profit has so far lagged bookings, so the guidance rests on the second half.

Legal and tax matters

The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached land parcels worth ₹2,016.05 million held by Technobuild Developers Private Limited under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The company has appealed the order and says the transactions complied with applicable laws. Separately, the Income Tax Department has issued demands totalling ₹842 million for assessment years 2015-16 to 2023-24. The company has filed appeals and says, on independent legal opinions, that no adjustments are required.

India Ratings & Research rates the company AA-, its highest rating. Its outstanding borrowings were ₹9,685.48 million as of 31 March 2026, below the threshold that would bring it under the framework for large corporate debt issuers.

For investors, the next checkpoints are the second-half margins and whether the company meets its PAT guidance. The ED appeal and the tax appeals are also open. A forfeiture notice for partly paid shares was published on 24 October 2026 in three newspapers, and the company's shareholders will want to track how that is resolved.