NEW DELHI: Shares of Bajaj Housing Finance made a stellar debut on the stock exchanges on Monday. On the NSE and the BSE, the company’s shares were listed at R150 per share, 114.29% higher than the issue price of R70.
The stock closed its first day at R165 on NSE, higher by 135.71% from the IPO price of R70, and at R164.99 on BSE, a 135.70% premium. This blockbuster listing added a whopping R79,000 crore to the company’s valuation on day 1, highest in India’s capital market history for a new entrant.
Bajaj Housing Finance’s market capitalisation stood at R 137,507 crore at Monday’s close as against R58,300 crore at the time of issue. The firm also widened the valuation gap among the housing finance companies. Housing & Urban Development Corporation stood at the second position with a market valuation of R49,476.96 crore, followed by LIC Housing Finance at R37,434.54 crore and PNB Housing Finance (R27,581.41 crore).
The strong listing for the Bajaj Group company was on the expected lines given the R6,560 crore IPO, the biggest of 2024 so far, received record subscription numbers amidst a bullish run in the broader market. Bajaj Housing Finance IPO was subscribed 63.61 times.
It received bids for more than 4,628 crore equity shares as against the 72.75 crore shares which were on offer. The share applications were valued at nearly R3.24 lakh crore, another high for an IPO. Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and MD of Bajaj Finserv, said on Monday that even they had not expected the way the shares opened.
“It also has additional responsibility on management and the board. The way we have built a quality business in the last 7 years, we will move ahead in the same way,” said Bajaj after the listing ceremony in Mumbai. He expects 12-15% credit growth in the housing finance industry as the economy is showing very strong tailwinds.