The Hindu Business Line : Bank of Maharashtra lists at premium

The stock opened at Rs 34.10 on the NSE, touched a high of Rs 44.90 and a low of Rs 33.25 before closing at Rs 39.35, a premium of 71 per cent to the offer price of Rs 23.

On the BSE, the stock closed at Rs 38.95.

The volumes in the counter were high on both the exchanges. On the NSE, a total of 2.95 crore shares were traded, of which 21.56 per cent were for delivery.

On the BSE, a total of 1.45 crore shares were traded. However, data on delivery position was not known.

Bank of Maharashtra had come out with a public issue of 10 crore shares in February-March. The issue was oversubscribed 12 times.

With this, all the IPOs (except Patni Computers and Four Soft) that have been made this year have provided good returns to investors on listing.

Brokers said that the interest in Bank of Maharashtra is in line with the interest in banking sector stocks.

Even at today's closing price, the stock is available at a price-earnings ratio of 5, which is attractive for investment compared to other public sector banks of similar size, said an analyst.

Another factor for the interest is that the FIIs were not allowed to participate in the IPO.

"Since FIIs could not participate in the IPO, a lot of buying interest in the stock is expected from them in the near future," said a dealer with a foreign broking firm.