NHPC?s public issue, the year?s biggest initial public offer (IPO) so far, debuted at the bourses on a disappointing note. After listing at Rs 42 with a premium of 16.66 % in the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the share came down sharply to hit an intra-day low of Rs 36.65 before ending the trading session at Rs 36.75 with a gain of Rs 0.75, or 2.08 %, against its issue size of Rs 36 per equity share. Around 50.88 crore shares changed hands in NSE clocking a turnover of Rs 1901.50 crore.
In BSE, NHPC shares got listed at Rs 39, a premium of 8.33 % before ending the trading session at Rs 36.70. In view of the overwhelming response received for the issue, market participants expected the shares to list at a premium of Rs 5 ? Rs 6 and further upside in the intra-day trade on the domestic equity bourses to its issue price of Rs 36 per share. Market observers attribute this to quick profit booking on listing opportunities.
The Rs 6,000 crore issues from NHPC was the first IPO from a state-run undertaking in the last 17 months and had received huge response from the investors and was subscribed by 23.62 times the shares on offer. Among investors, the high net worth investors (HNIs) portion was subscribed by a whooping 56 times, qualified institutional buyers (QIB) by over 29 times and retail portion by over three times.
Agressive pricing can also be seen as a reason for a lower listing gain. ?Unless an issue is reasonably priced, the momentum cannot be maintained in a particular stock. Investors who had subscribed to the NHPC and Adani Power have lost money as the issues were aggressively priced. This might have an impact on investor?s sentiment towards the primary market,? said Amitabh Chakraborty, president ? equity, Religare Securities.
Earlier the Rs 3,000 crore issue of Adani Power after getting listed at a premium of 8% in the NSE ended the trading session at Rs 100.10 against the issue price of Rs 100 per equity share.
However, experts see this as a healthy trend and feel that issues with good fundamentals will always find investors interest. The lure for heavy listing gains will now peter off and this is not expected to have any negative impact on the forthcoming issues.