Will 2022 be a year of contrasting narratives -- one filled with caution and the other with continued optimism?
The RBI's financial stability report has on Wednesday highlighted the disconnect between the real economy and equity market yet again. The central bank observed that Indian equities were trading at rich valuations, with several metrics such as price to earnings multiples, price to book ratio, market cap to GDP and the cyclically adjusted P/E ratio, or Shiller P/E, at above historical averages. For instance, as on December 13, the one-year forward P/E ratio for India was 35.1 per cent, above its 10-year average, and one of the highest in the world.
Of the 59 IPOs for which the data is available, 36 IPOs received mega responses of more than 10x (of which, six IPOs more than 100x), while eight IPOs were oversubscribed more than 3x.
A December 28 board meeting of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may tighten norms for initial public offerings (IPOs). The board may look to prescribe a minimum 5 per cent gap in IPO price bands, extend the lock-in period for anchor investors to 90 days and cap the amount a majority investor can sell through offer for sale. The regulator is looking at whether there can be a preferred allocation for anchor investors who opt for a longer lock-in period, said a person familiar with the matter.
'The correction could take two to three months and traders need to be careful.' 'For investors, this could be a good time to nibble in.'
After dropping to a low of Rs 1,298 apiece, the stock finished at Rs 1,380, its lowest level since November 22, the second day of listing.
Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) has emerged as the country's largest wealth creator, adding a staggering Rs 9.6 trillion over the past five years, according to Motilal Oswal's 26th Annual Wealth Creation Study. In doing so, the Mukesh Ambani-led company has beaten its own record of Rs 5.6 trillion generated in 2014-19. The study covered financial year 2015-16 (FY16) to FY21 and ranks the top 100 companies in descending order of absolute wealth created, subject to the company's stock price outperforming the BSE Sensex. The firms were also ranked according to speed (price CAGR during the period).
'The markets haven't corrected, that doesn't mean that they will only go up and up.'
'In the overall global portfolio, India's weighting has come down in the past seven months.'
'Investing in the stocks of holdcos can be a very efficient and inexpensive way of gaining exposure to the stocks of India's reputable growing business houses.'
'Sebi has to make sure that investor interests are protected and at the same time, there isn't over-regulation so that companies don't get discouraged to list here.'
'They have helped stabilise our market by acting as a counterbalance to foreign funds.'
Star Health and Allied Insurance's Rs 7,250-crore initial public offering (IPO), the third largest this year and eighth largest ever, just about managed to make it despite a poor response from investors, garnering just 79 per cent subscription, forcing the investment bankers to prune offer for sale (OFS) component. This is the second large offering after digital payments major Paytm this year to receive a lukewarm response from investors, a sign that despite the IPO frenzy investors are discerning when it comes to pricing. As Star Health didn't meet the profitability criteria, its IPO required a mandatory 75 per cent subscription from qualified institutional buyers (QIB).
'Any normalisation exercise will bring its share of volatility.'
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and mutual funds (MFs) have put in more money as anchor investors in initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2021 than any other year. FPIs' share of investments for the year stood at Rs 24,477 crore, nearly six times that put in last year and more than nine times the amount invested in 2019, the data from Prime Database showed. MFs have invested Rs 12,264 crore, four times than that invested last year and more than 10 times the investment in 2019. The total investment by FPIs and MFs put together this year is five times the amount invested last year. The amount contributed by MFs, however, is nearly half of that invested by FPIs.
'I can tell shareholders we're going to be very responsible with our capital, we're going to be absolutely execution focused.'
The BSE's arm Asia Index has announced Wipro will replace Bajaj Auto in the 30-share Sensex. The move is part of a semi-annual rebalancing exercise and will take effect when the market opens for trading on December 20. On account of the rejig, Wipro will see buying by passive funds to the tune of Rs1,300 crore, while Bajaj Auto will see selling of Rs 636 crore, estimate analysts.
Sebi also plans to examine if any comments made by company officials or the bankers could have misled investors.
Initial public offerings (IPOs) by start-ups are bringing cheer to investors and investment bankers alike. After food delivery company Zomato, Nykaa has issued the fattest pay cheque to the managers of its share sale -- Rs 148 crore, or 2.8 per cent of its issue proceeds of Rs 5,300 crore. In absolute terms, this is the second-highest amount paid to investment bankers for handling an IPO, while in percentage terms, it is the highest for large IPOs (>$300 million) in the last one year, shows an analysis of the data provided by Prime Database, a primary market tracker.
'Today, there is no easy money to be made after the run-up in equities.'