Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 115.49 points, or 0.72%, to 16051.10.

On BSE, 29,603 shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 1.44 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 423 and a low of Rs 410.05 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 455 on 21 January 2010 and a 52-week low of Rs 105.30 on 9 March 2009.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 8 February 2010, rising 0.02% compared with the Sensex's 9.15% fall. It outperformed the market in past one quarter, gaining 31.70% as against 1.38% decline in the Sensex.

The large-cap retail chain operator has an equity capital of Rs 41.23 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

The current price of Rs 418 discounts the company's Q2 December 2009 annualised EPS of Rs 9.83, by a PE multiple of 42.52.

According to reports, the dairy products brand Fresh & Pure, Tasty Treat cereals, Golden Harvest spices, Ektaa and Punya edible oils will be merged with Capital Foods, leading to Pantaloon shareholders getting a yet-to-be decided stake in the company.

Capital Foods is owned by Future Ventures and other investors. Future Ventures, the private equity unit of Mr Biyani, holds 33% of Capital Foods. While Indian television's most popular culinary showman, identified with the Khana Khazana brand, Sanjeev Kapoor owns 10%, the rest is held by Ajay Gupta, the founder of the company which owns brands such as Ching's Secret, Smith & Jones, Mama Maria, Raji and Kaeng Thai.

Global food companies such as Nestle, Kraft and Unilever are investing heavily to capture a share of India's food industry which is estimated to grow to $300 billion by 2015 from $200 billion in 2006-7, according to consultancy Technopak.

Pantaloon Retail (India)'s net profit rose 51.1% to Rs 50.67 crore on a 25.4% rise in sales to Rs 1912.84 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008.

Pantaloon Retail owns and operates retail stores throughout India that cater to a wide cross-section of the Indian society. It operates Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central and Pantaloons.