Lovable Lingerie debuts at 27% premium

MUMBAI: Women’s inner-wear maker Lovable Lingerie debuted at a premium of over 27% on the bourses on Thursday, listing at Rs 261.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange against the issue price of Rs 205. The stock of the intimate apparel firm, which raised Rs 80 crore from the IPO, hit a high of Rs 278.95 and a low of Rs 241.40, before ending the day at Rs 250.25 on the BSE.

On the volume front, over one crore shares of the company were traded on the two bourses within the first few minutes of trade and over 4 crore shares were traded by the end of day on the BSE and NSE. Analysts maintain that Lovable Lingerie commands a marginally better profit margin compared to Nalanda Capital-backed Page Industries, a licensed manufacturer of the Jockey brand of innerwear in South Asia. Page Industries had debuted at an 8.61% discount to its issue price of Rs 360 per share (Rs 329) only to close at Rs 268, down 25.56% on the NSE on March 16, 2007. Aditya Birla Money, which recommended a buy on Lovable’s IPO with a medium to long-term perspective in its report dated March 8, is of the view that Lovable could turn out to be a good story in the long term as it is part of a niche segment, which is transforming from an unorganised to organised retail.