Trading volumes on the listing day in the case of public issues of private sector companies has been high in 2010, indicating a sense of hyperactivity, compared to PSU issues, where the volumes on listing day were comparatively low.

In the case of Texmo Pipes IPO, the issue size in terms of the number of shares was about 0.50 crore shares and the total number of shares in the company on post-issue basis was about 1.13 crore. The trading volume on the listing day alone was to the tune of about 7.42 crore. That is, the trading volume on the listing day was whopping 14.84 times that of the total issue size number of shares. Further, the trading volume on the listing day was 6.59 times that of the total number of shares in the company. That is, on equivalent basis, the entire ownership of the company had changed hands by about 6.5 times, in just one single day. That is, in just 6.5 hours of market trading hours on the listing day, the entire ownership of the company had changed by about 6.5 times. Such heavy trading volumes were visible in almost in all of the private sector public issues in 2010.

But in the case of NTPC FPO, the issue size in terms of number of shares was about 41.23 crore shares and the total number of shares in the company on post-issue basis was about 824.55 crore shares. And the trading volume on the listing day alone was to the tune of just about Rs 1.22 crore shares.

That is, the trading volume on the listing day was just 0.03 times that of the total issue size number of shares. Further, the trading volume on the listing day was 0.001 times that of the total number of shares in the company. In fact, even the other PSU FPOs have displayed relative calm on their listing day. In the case of NMDC FPO, these ratios were just about 0.05 times and 0.004 times.

According to a study by SMC Capital, listing day volumes for private companies were very high, while it was thin in PSU issues.

Jagannadham Thunuguntla, Equity Head, SMC Capital said: “Private sector issues may attract investors with a trading psyche, who may exit on listingy, whereas the PSU issues typically may attract long-term investors.”