The Hindu Business Line : Punj Lloyd lists at 51% premium

SHARES of engineering construction company Punj Lloyd made its debut on the stock markets on Friday at 51.11 per cent premium to close at Rs 1,057, compared to the issue price of Rs 700 per share.

Punj Lloyd was the most actively traded stock on Friday with over 1.41 crore shares changing hands. The company's IPO was for 91.73 lakh shares. (About 46.55 lakh shares of the Punj Lloyd changed hands at the BSE while another 95.25 lakh shares were traded on the NSE.)

Traders said the shares were much in demand after the company informed that it won about $191 million worth new orders prior to the start of the trading.

Punj Lloyd's IPO was subscribed by 39.06 times. The company's IPO constituted 17.57 of the fully diluted post issue paid-up equity capital of Punj Lloyd.

The company, in its announcement on Friday, said it has been granted a letter of intent by Bechtel for a pipeline project in Abu Dhabi for a consideration of $28.90 million. The company has also received a letter of intent by Matrix for another project in Abu Dhabi for a consideration of AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham) 29.44 million.

In addition, Punj Lloyd said it also received a letter of intent by the Road Infrastructure Development Company of Rajasthan Ltd for construction of roads in three sectors in the State for a total of Rs 593.54 crore ($132 million).

On the NSE, Morgan Stanley bought 3 lakh shares of Punj Lloyd.

The stock opened at about 45 per cent premium at Rs 989 and climbed up to touch a high of Rs 1,079, before closing at Rs 1,057.

In February 2005, Punj Lloyd had raised $ 50 million through private placement of equity from a consortium led by Standard Chartered Private Equity. The consortium includes Temasek Holdings, Merlion India Fund, New York Life and Jacob Ballas.

Speaking at the listing ceremony, Mr Atul Punj, Chairman and Managing Director of Punj Lloyd, said: "The overwhelming response from investors puts the onus on the company to meet and surpass all expectations and to consistently deliver the kind of quality the company is known for."