India's Bharti Hexacom jumps 54% in debut trade at over $5 bln valuation (updated)

Bharti Hexacom

12/04/2024 08:10

(Adds analyst comment in paragraphs 5-6)
    By Rama  Venkat
       BENGALURU, April 12 (Reuters) - Bharti Hexacom's shares
 BHAX.NS  surged 54.4% in their trading debut on Friday, beating
analysts' expectations and valuing the Indian telecom operator
at 440 billion rupees ($5.28 billion). 
    The stock opened at 755 rupees, subsequently climbing to 880
rupees. Analysts had expected the stock to list at a 10%-15%
premium on its initial public offering price of 570 rupees.
    So far in 2024, 64 Indian companies have gone public,
raising $2.31 billion cumulatively, compared with 42 companies
that $170.6 million in the same period last year, according to
LSEG data.
    Seventeen of the 64 companies that went public did so on the
main stock exchange. Among them, Hexacom's trading pop was the
second biggest so far this year. Indian EV charger maker Exicom
Tele-Systems'  EXIC.NS  93.3% surge on its trading debut in
March was the biggest this year.
    "The listing is beyond expectations and the movement
thereafter even more surprising," said Arun Kejriwal, founder of
Kejriwal Research and Investment Services.
    "While Hexacom's IPO price was at a discount compared to
what Airtel trades at, after the rise on the debut day, the
companies seem to be at a similar valuation based on earnings,
said Kejriwal. "One would wonder whether it makes sense to buy
Hexacom or Airtel."
    Billionaire Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel  BRTI.NS ,
India's No.2 telecom operator by subscribers, owns 70% of Bharti
Hexacom. Bharti Airtel shares fell 0.4% at 1,224.55 rupees.
    While the parent company operates across India, Bharti
Hexacom offers mobile, broadband and fixed-line telephone
services under the "Airtel" brand in the northwestern state of
Rajasthan and some parts of northeastern India.
    The 42.75-billion rupee IPO, the country's largest public
issue in a year, was oversubscribed 29.88 times last week.
    The Tata Group's Tata Technologies  TATE.NS  and JSW Group's
JSW Infrastructure  JSWN.NS  also had strong debuts late last
year, surging 180% and 32.2%, respectively. 
        
    ($1 = 83.3750 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema
and Janane Venkatraman)
 ((ramavenkat.raman@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/ramavenkat0607;
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