MADRID, June 20 (Reuters) - Shares in Spanish
pharmaceuticals firm Almirall rose strongly in their
market debut on Wednesday.
Almirall opened at 15.50 euros, the price the family-owned
firm had set as the maximum price for its IPO and up on the
actual listing price of 14 euros, the middle of its indicative
price range.
By 1251 GMT the shares had eased back to 15.19 euros, up 8.5
percent, with more than 18.5 million shares had traded.
"Considering the IPO was priced in the middle of its range,
it was clear the shares would rise so they would come in line
with the valuation of its peers," said Pedro Real de Asua,
analyst de Barclays Fondos.
At 14 euros a share Almirall was valued at 2.3 billion euros
or 15.6 times against an average price-to-earnings ratio of 17.7
for the DJ Stoxx European healthcare sector index <.SXDP>.
Almirall's IPO was the second in two days in Spain,
following that of solar panel maker Solaria .
Solaria's share price shot up 37 percent on Tuesday and was
up another 11.7 percent on Wednesday as investors rush to pick
up renewable energy stocks.
"We expected the price to rise but we mustn't forget that
Almirall isn't Solaria. It's a big, hefty firm which basically
moves on fundamentals and p/es more than future expectations,"
said Marian Fernandez, equity analyst at Inversis.
Analysts expected Almirall's stock to steady at around 15
euros. Almirall listed 27 percent of its capital, or 45.3
million shares. That could rise to 30 percent if the greenshoe
option is exercised.
"Almirall is not and won't be a speculative stock and the
rises will be moderate," said Real de Asua.
Fernandez said the company faced various risks given its
business model, including the loss of patents and difficulties
in researching and selling new products.
Almirall said it would use the IPO funds to finance its
growth, widen its product range and increase its research.
((Reporting by Reuters/EP; writing by Jane Barrett;
editing by Greg Mahlich; Reuters Messaging:
jane.barrett.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail:
jane.barrett@reuters.com; tel: +34 91 585 8340))
Keywords: ALMIRALL OFFER/