Bumper listing? Easy Trip shares trade at 70% premium in grey market

Weakness on Dalal Street failed to dent the grey market premium for shares of Easy Trip Planners ahead of its listing on Friday as investors remained hooked to the company's strong financials and fair valuations.

According to the data provided by Unlistedarena.com, the scrip was ruling at Rs 322 in the grey market, implying a premium of 72 per cent or Rs 135 over the issue price of Rs 187 per share. The scrip at one point was commanding a premium of Rs 145-155 per share.

The initial public offer (IPO) by the online travel agency was subscribed a whopping 159 times.

While surely the company makes for a good listing candidate on the back of strong ROE and ROCE of over 35 per cent, analysts have raised red flags on it being a long-term play given the frothy nature of markets and the risks the travel industry entails given the current Covid-19 situation in the country.

Besides, most IPOs that got listed at high premiums are losing steam within a few days, be it MTAR Technologies, Heranba Industries or IndiGo Paints. Nearly 85 per cent of the mainboard issues that got listed in 2021 are trading below their listing prices, shows ACE Equity data.

On the flip side Yash Gupta, equity research analyst at Angel Broking recommends investors to hold the stock for the next 1-2 years as it believes the company being the only listed play from the online travel space, having strong financials makes for a good bet.

Easy Trip is the only profitable company among the key online travel players.

"Nearly 97 per cent of Easy Trip revenue is from air travel segment and recent data shows that 75 per cent of air travel is back to normal. This company also books international holiday destinations with occupancy levels for some being reported at better than pre-Covid levels," Gupta added who expects Easy Trip to list at a strong premium of 60-70 per cent.

That apart, analysts also expect a pick-up in inoculation drive to mitigate the rising Covid-19 risks which would aid the company's growth going ahead.

How to check allotment status?

Investors who bid for the initial public offer can check the subscription status via the registrar’s website -- KFin Technologies Private Limited or on the BSE website.

An applicant can check the status of their allotment on the website of KFin Tech (link here) by selecting "Company name" from the dropdown and using either PAN details/Application number/DPID/Client ID and clicking on submit.

Whereas, an applicant trying to check the allotment status on the BSE (link here) website, can select the issue type as "Equity", select the "Issue Name", type in his or her "Application Number", followed by "Permanent Account Number (PAN No.)" and clicking on "Search" button.