10 of 15 newly-listed firms trade below IPO price in FY19, plunge up to 53%

Shares of ICICI Securities have been the worst hit, plunging 53.20% from its issue price of Rs 520 per share

More than half of 15 companies that made their stock market debut this fiscal are trading below their issue price, plunging as much as 53 per cent.  

A total of 15 companies have been listed on the bourses this fiscal after completing their respective initial public offers.

Dinesh Engineers, a passive communication infrastructure provider, withdrew its initial public offer early last month due to sluggish investors' response.

Out of the 15 newly-listed companies, shares of 10 firms are trading below their IPO price, tumbling as much as 53 per cent, an analysis of the new market entrants showed.

Shares of these 10 firms have declined in the range of 0.5-53 per cent till the latest trading session (November 7).

Shares of ICICI Securities have been the worst hit, plunging 53.20 per cent from its issue price of Rs 520 per share.  

ICICI Securities, which got listed in April, had to reduce the size of its initial public offer after the sale elicited a sluggish response, especially from high net-worth individuals.

The scrip of IndoStar Capital Finance has tumbled 45.39 per cent against its IPO price of Rs 572 a share.

Weak trading performance by these firms came amid volatile market conditions and sluggish investor sentiment.

Of the 15 companies, five have, however, managed to stay afloat, giving returns of up to 46 per cent.

Shares of railways consultancy firm RITES have surged 45.94 per cent over its issue price of Rs 185. 

Besides, chemical manufacturer Fine Organic Industries has given a smart return of 42.91 per cent from its IPO price of Rs 783.

The broader market has seen severe volatility recently, with the BSE benchmark Sensex falling sharply by 3,407.39 points, or 8.81 per cent, since August this year. 

The key index had in April gained 1,905 points or 5.72 per cent, while in May it was up 162.02 points or 0.46 per cent and in June it rose by 101.1 points or 0.28 per cent.

Also, in July it was up 2,183.1 points or 6.16 per cent, and the index surged 1,038.49 points or 2.76 per cent in August.

The rally in stocks, however, came to a halt from September onwards. In September the 30-share index tumbled 2,417.93 points or 6.25 per cent and in October it fell by 1,785.09 points or 4.92 per cent.

In the fiscal gone by, a total of 45 companies came out with their IPOs raising a record of over Rs 820 billion.