By Rama Venkat
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Shares of JSW Infrastructure, India’s No.2 commercial port operator, climbed as much as 32.2% on their first day of trading on Tuesday, placing the company among several successful domestic market debuts this year.
The stock, which had an initial public offer price (IPO) of 119 rupees, opened higher at 143 rupees. It jumped to a high of 157.3 rupees during the session, valuing the company at 330.33 billion rupees ($3.97 billion).
The broader market was last down 0.5%.
Top Indian port operator Adani Ports, which listed in 2007, has a market capitalisation of about 1.78 trillion rupees.
JSW Infra is part of the billionaire Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group and is the steel-to-software conglomerate’s first business to go public since JSW Energy in 2010.
The company operates ports and port terminals across the country and provides maritime-related services including cargo handling, storage, and logistics.
Shivani Nyati, head of wealth at Swastika Investmart, attributed the listing’s success to “strong fundamentals, consistent revenue and profit growth in recent years, and good subscription levels.”
The company’s profit more than doubled in fiscal 2023, while its revenue from operations jumped about 41%, according to the prospectus. It plans to nearly double its operational capacity to 300 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2030.
JSW Infra’s listing adds to a series of successful market debuts in the past few months – ranging from wires and cables maker RR Kabel to Concord Biotech – helped by robust investor appetite that has also powered the blue-chip index to a record high.
So far this year, 277 Indian companies have gone public, raising $6.62 billion, compared with 172 companies that raised $10.53 billion in the same period last year, according to LSEG data.
JSW Infra raised 28 billion rupees through the sale of fresh shares. Jindal, his family trust and members of the promoter group – an Indian market term for large shareholders who can influence company policy – will have an 85.61% stake in the company.
($1 = 83.2070 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Janane Venkatraman)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.