By Andrei Skvarsky
About 50 companies from Russia and the CIS have announced plans to conduct initial public offerings since December 1, according to the communications company PBN.
The list includes Russia's steel producer Metalloinvest, coal mining company SUEK and pharmaceuticals firm Protek. Ukrainian egg producer Avangard is also mentioned.
Otkritie Investment Bank, part of Russia's Otkritie Financial Corporation, yesterday said it had been selected as the IPO underwriter for Russian Navigation Technologies (RNT), a global positioning system manufacturer. RNT is set to hold an IPO for common shares and obtain a listing on the MICEX stock exchange in the innovative and growth companies sector.
Appetite for the current crop of Russian IPOs is limited, however, with investors' memories of the “people's IPOs' still fresh.
State-sponsored listings of VTB bank and others are still trading well below their debut price. Aluminium producer Rusal's January listing in Hong Kong also fell off a cliff-face shortly after its listing.
One investor said: "Russian investors have so far been turkeys characterised by greedy bankers, greedy companies and dumb investors. I don't think much has changed."
A recent report by Troika Dialog said half of all Russian listings over the last decade had dived by more than 10% compared to their benchmark index.
Loading ...
