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Dubai: Shares of port operator DP World rose 4.62 per cent on the first day of trading as the company listed on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) on Monday.
Priced at $1.30 per share, the stock jumped to $1.44 at one time during trading, but ended the day at $1.36.
DP World raised $4.96 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) last week by selling 23 per cent stake.
The company sold 3,818 million shares to about 200 regional and global institutional investors and 57,000 individuals from the Gulf at $1.30 per unit, making it the biggest public share sale in the region.
More than 303 million shares were traded yesterday, marking a record for the DIFX, which has struggled to achieve liquidity. "I think DP World is the real launch of the DIFX as a liquid exchange. I do not recall the DIFX having recorded such volumes and value on a single day in equities," said Mohammad Yasin, managing director of Shuaa Securities.
He said the first day liquidity would also be encouraging for investors and "if this liquidity is sustained, then it will speed up planned listing of other companies."
The DP World share issue was oversubscribed by more than 15 times.
Holders of the $3.5 billion Islamic bond sold by DP World's parent, Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) in 2006 received 25 per cent of the total offered shares.
Of the remaining shares, 40 per cent were allocated to institutional and retail investors from the region, 20 per cent to US investors and 30 per cent to those from Europe, officials told Gulf News.
Satisfied
Asked if DP World missed an opportunity to offer more shares to the public in view of the huge response, chief executive officer Mohammad Sharaf said the company is satisfied with the 23 per cent flotation.
The company had initially offered 20 per cent shares in the IPO but raised the offer citing better than expected demand. It also priced the shares at the top of the $1-$1.30 indicative range.
Sharaf added that at present, the company is not considering a secondary listing.
Profile: Capacity to be doubled
DP World operates 43 terminals in 23 countries and has 13 projects under development. It is also has 10 project to upgrade capacity at its existing container terminals.
The company aims to nearly double its container handling capacity to 90 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 10 years.
Its capacity was 48.6 million TEUs and throughput 36.8 million at the end of 2006. DP World generated $705.3 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) last year.
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