Spanish insurance company LDA jumps 30% on Madrid market debut (updated)
29/04/2021 09:07
(Adds details on LDA, current valuation, updates shares)
By Jesús Aguado
MADRID, April 29 (Reuters) - Shares in Spanish insurance
company Linea Directa Aseguradora (LDA) LDA.MC jumped around
30% on their market debut on Thursday, in what was the first
flotation on the Madrid stock exchange this year.
Global stock markets have benefited this year from ultra-low
interest rates and government economic stimulus measures aimed
at alleviating the effects of the coronavirus crisis, driving
record numbers of market debuts in several countries.
LDA, which focuses on motor insurance, is Spain's
third-biggest non-life insurance company.
It increased its net profit in the first quarter by 1.9% to
29.6 million euros against the same quarter a year ago, although
it warned that a worsening of economic scenarios may impact its
profitability.
At 0735 GMT, shares in LDA were up 29.6% to 1.7070 euros,
compared with its listing price of 1.3175 euros, giving the
company a valuation of 1.856 billion euros, compared with a
pre-market valuation of 1.434 billion euros
Thursday's market debut was done through a direct market
listing and not an IPO as shareholders did not sell ahead of its
flotation and LDA did not issue new shares either.
Technically, Spanish renewable energy company Ecoener is
expected to be the first IPO on the Madrid exchange next week.
Around half a dozen debuts are expected this year in the Spanish
market. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2MK3BG urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2LF326 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2M85CF urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2MG1WJ
The direct listing enabled LDA to start trading with
existing shareholders since the bank had already distributed the
entire issue premium or 1.184 billion euros, representing 82.6%
of the insurance company's share capital, among its existing
shareholders, with Bankinter holding a 17.4% stake after the
operation.
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado
Editing by Ingrid Melander)
((jesus.aguado@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 585 8339; Reuters
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