Trading of Amtex starts on KSE

The formal trading of Amtex Limited has started at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) on Tuesday. The KSE organised bell ringing ceremony for Amtex Limited which marked the formal listing of the company on the exchange. Khurram Iftikhar, CEO of Amtex Limited, rang the bell that formally commenced trading of Amtex Limited on the KSE.
AKD Securities Limited was appointed as Lead Manager, Arranger and Book Runner for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 61 million ordinary shares of the company through the Book Building Process. Amtex is one of the leading value added textile composite units of Pakistan having sales in excess of $200 million.
The company issued 42.7 million Ordinary shares (70 percent of the total issue size) through the Book Building process to foreign and local institutional investors and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) at a strike price of Rs 13 per share. Subsequently, 18.3 million Ordinary shares (30 percent of the total issue size) were issued to general public at the above-mentioned price.
Talking to media on this occasion, Adnan Afridi, Managing Director of KSE said it is positive trend that new companies are coming for listing on the exchange. He said the trend of listing has increased this year as compared to previous one. He was expecting more listing on the exchange in coming days.
Farid Alam, CEO of AKD Securities Limited, showed his satisfaction over the successful listing of a textile company on the exchange after long time and highlighted that despite being a premium offering, the issue received overwhelming repose from the investors.
He said that under testing times and shrinking market volumes, Amtex was successfully oversubscribed in both the phases. He remained optimistic regarding the future performance of the company, given the fact that Amtex is in the expansionary phase and the management of Amtex remains aggressive over penetrating further in the international markets.
Khurram Iftikhar, CEO of Amtex Limited; highlighted various positives of the sector and the company and stressed that the sector remains positive. He emphasised that the "Direct to Store" business model remains the core strength of the company, assisting in registering massive sales growth over the years.
He said that the company is planning to expand further as DTS has opened doors to unlimited export opportunities from Pakistan. He agreed that one of the crucial objectives of listing was to partner with the general public and let the market forces decide and price the share to its true potential. He also indicated that the company will follow aggressive dividend policy.
He discussed about the overwhelming response of local and foreign institutions and individuals in the issue and appreciated the trust that people have shown in Amtex Limited by participating in Book Building Process and General Public Offering. He was all praise for the professional work done by AKD Securities team in the successful launch of Amtex at the Karachi Stock Exchange.