Delta Corp Shares Crash 20% On Rs 11,140 Crore GST Notices; Details

Shares of Delta Corp Ltd tanked 20 per cent in Monday morning deals after the gaming and casino firm said it has received tax notices totaling Rs 16,822 crore from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence. The demand is for the period between July 2017 and March 2022. The company informed the same to the bourses on Friday.

Delta Corp which operates casinos in India received a notice from the government on Friday. The GST amount claimed is based on the gross bet value of all games played at the casinos during the relevant period, Delta said, adding that a show cause notice will be issued to the company if it fails to pay.

Delta Corp shares tanked 20 per cent to Rs 140.20 on Monday against the previous close of Rs 175.25 on BSE. The market cap of Delta Corp fell to Rs 3850 crore in the current session.

This is the second major crash for the stock in a period of nearly three months. In July 12 this year, the stock closed 23 per cent lower at Rs 189.35 after the GST Council imposed a levy of 28 per cent GST on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos.

The gaming and casino stock has lost 30.91 per cent in one year and fallen 32.74 per cent since the beginning of this year. Delta Corp stock has a one-year beta of 1.4, indicating very high volatility during the period.

As per the filing to the exchanges, the alleged shortfall relates to Delta Corp and its two subsidiaries, Highstreet Cruises and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd and Delta Pleasure Cruise Company Private Limited.

While the total outstanding for Delta Corp stands at over Rs 628 crore, it is at Rs 3289.94 crore for Highstreet Cruises and Rs 1765.21 crore for Delta Pleasure Cruise Company, the exchange filing said.

The stock has been a market laggard and given negative returns of over 25 per cent in the past 12 months as against 15 per cent returns given by the Nifty during this period.

The stock’s underperformance has been more pronounced this year as the price has eroded over 30 per cent on a year-to-date basis.