Archean Chemical gains 12% on debut, shares worth Rs 1,014 cr traded

The stock hit a high of Rs 476 and a low of Rs 440.2 on NSE; firm's IPO was subscribed 32 times

Shares of Archean Chemical Industries gained more than 12 per cent during their stock market debut on Friday. Shares of the specialty chemical manufacturer finished at Rs 458, up Rs 51, or 12.53 per cent, over its issue price of Rs 407 per share.

During intraday trade, the stock hit a high of Rs 476 and a low of Rs 440.2 on the NSE, where Rs 1,014 crore worth of shares changed hands. Archean’s Initial public offering (IPO) had garnered 32 times subscription. Through the IPO, the company had raised Rs 805 crore of fresh capital to pare its debt. Its IPO also consisted of secondary share sale worth Rs 657 crore.

At the last close, the company was valued at Rs 5,635 crore, nearly 30 times its FY22 earnings of Rs 189 crore. During the first quarter of the 2022-23 financial year, Archean Chemical had posted net profit of Rs 84 crore on revenues of Rs 400 crore.

Analysts said the company’s valuations are in line with some of the listed players in the specialty chemicals space.

The company is focused on producing and exporting bromine, industrial salt, and sulphate of potash. It is one of the largest exporters of bromine and industrial salt by volume. The company gets its raw material from the brine reserves in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. It manufactures its products at the facility near Hajipir in Gujarat.

The IPO of the company was subscribed 32.23 times with major support from qualified institutional buyers putting in bids 48.91 times the allotted portion. High net-worth individuals bought 14.90 times the allotted quota and retail portion was booked 9.96 times. Sundar Sethuraman