KARACHI: Pakistan stock market's performance has been remarkable this year and during July 2020 to April 2021 period, the KSE-100 Index increased by 9,372.94 points from 34,889.41 points to 44262.35 points, Pakistan Economic Survey 2020-21 unveiled by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin at a press conference at Islamabad on Thursday said.
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2020-21, during this time, the KSE-100 Index closed at its highest point of 46,933.63 on February 3, 2021, before the third wave of COVID-19 dragged it down. As of April 30, 2021, number of listed companies stood at 532, with total market capitalization of Rs 7,718 billion.
The turnover in shares reached its peak in January 2021, indicating that investors were actively investing in the market. The market activity slowed down after February 2021 as the third wave of Covid-19 intensified.
The distinguishing feature of this year is the significant number of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) that took place. It implies that companies are confident about business prospects.
Despite the Covid-19 outbreak, Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed five IPOs during July-March FY2021 period. In year 2020 alone, four IPOs took place, which is the highest number in the last five years. Investor's appetite was so strong that most of these issues were oversubscribed. In 2020, first IPO was The Organic Meat Company (TOMCL), the leading exporter of Halal meat from Pakistan. The Company was listed on PSX on August 03, 2020. The Company offered 40 million shares at a strike price of Rs 20/share to raise Rs 800 million. The second IPO of the year was TPL Trakker (TPLT), which provides technology solutions and IoT services. It raised Rs 802 million by offering 66.82 million shares at a price of Rs 12/share. The largest IPO of the year 2020 was of the Rebar manufacturer Agha Steel Industries (AGHA). The company offered 120 million shares at a strike price of Rs 32/share, raising Rs 3.8 billion. The fourth IPO of the year was Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited, which conducted the Initial Public Offering of its preference shares on December 17 and 18, 2020. Engro planned to raise Rs 375 million by offering Rs 37.5 million preference shares at the face value of Rs 10/- per share. The successful IPO of Panther Tyres Limited (PTL) resulted in the fifth listing on the Stock Exchange for FY2021. The Issue of Panther Tyres Limited consisted of 40 million ordinary shares with a strike price of Rs 65.8 per share to raise Rs 2.6 billion. It is a significant and positive development for the capital market of Pakistan whereby listings have taken place successfully in the challenging times of the Corona virus pandemic.
The average daily shares volume has been higher this year compared to previous year, suggesting that more buyers and sellers are there in the market which makes it is easier and faster to execute a trade. On 27th May 2021, PSX witnessed an all-time high daily trading volume with 2.21 billion shares traded in a single session.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021