I thought it will go up to around RM 3.30 (10%) but looks like the sentiment is not encouraging.
(Reuters) - Pay-TV firm Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd closed flat in a weak market debut Friday on concerns its valuation was too high, underperforming other recent big listings as Kuala Lumpur's booming IPO market looked set to lose steam next year.
But after such a robust 2012, and with Astro's $1.5 billion sale marking the last major listing until the first quarter of next year, the market is expected to cool off.
Astro shares rose as much as 3.7 percent before erasing gains to close at 3.00 ringgit, unchanged from the offer price in Malaysia's third-biggest IPO this year. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a rise of at least 6 percent.
The IPO by Astro, controlled by Malaysia's second-richest man Ananda Krishnan, followed Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd's $3.3 billion offering in June and IHH Healthcare Bhd's $2.1 billion flotation in July.
By comparison, Felda, a palm oil firm, rose 16.5 percent higher on its first trading day. Hospital operator IHH had gained 10.5 percent on its debut.
Astro, which also counts state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd as a major shareholder, returned to public markets after it was taken private in 2010.
Friday's closing price gives Astro a market value of 15.6 billion ringgit ($5.1 billion), nearly double the 8.3 billion ringgit it was worth when it was taken private.
The price of 3.00 ringgit would translate to a price-to-earnings ratio of 32 times based on estimated earnings per share in fiscal 2013, TA Securities said.
"There were a lot of concerns earlier that the IPO was priced at a hefty price tag, in terms of price-to-earnings ratio," TA Securities' Kaladher said of Astro's share price performance on Friday.
The flurry of deals has more than quadrupled Malaysia's 2012 IPO tally to about $7.5 billion, accounting for nearly one-quarter of all new listings in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan this year. That compares with Hong Kong's $1.83 billion and Singapore's $3.97 billion so far this year, Thomson Reuters data shows.
In Singapore on Friday, units of Religare Health Trust, which owns hospital-related assets, plunged as much as 10 percent below the initial offering price of S$0.90 in their market debut. The trust, whose assets are managed by Indian hospital group Fortis, raised $416 million through an IPO.
Source: Reuters
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