Spanish utility Cox shares drop in the market debut
The shares of Spanish water and clean energy utility Cox dropped more than 3% on their first trading day, amid market concerns about renewable energy after Donald Trump won the U.S. Presidential election last week.
Stocks opened at 10,24 euros ($10.83), a little higher than the reference price of 10,23 euros, set earlier in the week during an initial public offer. However, they fell to 9,86 euros within minutes. The final IPO, at the lower end of the range announced, implied a capitalisation of 805 million euros for Cox. Its name is derived from the town where it was founded in southeastern Spain.
The company had decided to proceed with its IPO on November 5, just as shares in European clean-energy groups plummeted after Trump's victory in the election caused investors to be concerned about a possible dismantling by the U.S. of support for renewable energies.
Cox lowered its IPO size to around 175 million euro from about 200 million on Tuesday to adjust to the lower market appetite.
Enrique Riquelme, Cox's Executive Chairperson, said that after ringing the Madrid Stock Exchange bell: "We reduced the size of the company a little more because the market was... but with the capital provided we will be able meet our business plan little by little."
He added that "the market volatility is evident at the global level, but being listed gives a company such as ours instruments to continue operating and growing... For global projects, we need transparency", which comes with requirements for publically traded companies.
Riquelme owned 77.85% Cox shares before the IPO, and it has retained 63.1% of that share.
Due to market instability, the Spanish frozen bakery manufacturer Europastry cancelled its market debut last month. The market debut was estimated to be worth up to 555 millions euros.
This was after a successful IPO – Spain's biggest in nearly a decade – in April by the beauty group Puig, at the top end of its range and raising approximately 3 billion euros.
(source: Reuters)
