Gulf News - Dubai's Salik's off to a flier on Day 1 at DFM, up 18% to Dh2.36 in initial minutes

Dubai: The Salik stock powered up instantly gaining 18 per cent in the initial minutes of its DSM debut.The stock, priced at Dh2, is now trading at Dh2.36.

Salik eventually totalled volumes of 252 million shares and settled at Dh2.22 on its first day.

In the first 5 minutes, Salik volumes had hit more than 85 million shares traded, as retailer investors poured in to fortify their positions over and above what they received as part of the subscriptions. After the frenetic five minutes, the stock is at Dh2.27, still up 13 per cent plus. In comparison, it's almost a dull day for the other counters on DFM, with DEWA being the next highest traded, at 6 million plus shares.

Salik volumes easily crossed 100 million by 10:10, makingfor a sterling first day for the toll gate operator. According to market watchers, the volumes generated on Day 1 are more than just impressive for a DFM listing. "It's clearly retail buyers wanting to expand their holdings - even after Salik raised the issue size from 20 per cent to 24.9 per cent, the appetite is very much there," said an analyst.

By the looks of it, breaching 200 million in shares traded shouldn't be too much of an effort, Gulf News reported earlier. According to Vijay Valecha, Chief Investment Officer at Century Financial, "The highest trading volume for an IPO on listing day this year from UAE is DEWA, with 447.94 million shares and an aggregate value of Dh1.30 billion. The Borouge IPO in Abu Dhabi is the second largest, with a volume of 376.82 million shares and Dh1.11 billion.

"Salik traded volume is already 177 million with a total traded value of around Dh414 million. Looking at the momentum, it seems that Salik is well poised to become the year's largest traded IPO on a listing day in terms of volume and traded value.

"If that happens, it is remarkable, considering the highly volatile conditions across the globe with a 'hard' currency like pound sterling plummeting to multi-decade lows. So the strong debut of Salik proves that UAE financial assets are considered top-notch and a vindication of the Dubai government's aggressive push to monetise its assets and broaden its stock market."