Applauding the debut. From left: CSE Director Suren De Silva, CT CLSA Holdings Director and Chief Operating Officer Zakir Mohamedally, CSE Director Jayantha Fernando, CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike, WindForce Chairman Ranil Pathirana, Founder Chairman Janak Hirdaramani, CSE Chairman Dumith Fernando, WindForce Vice Chairman Asgi Akbarally, Managing Director Manjula Perera, Director Moiz Najmudeen, CAL Managing Director, Global Markets and Investment Banking Deshan Pushparajah

• Debutant WindForce gains by over 15%; generates highest turnover of Rs. 869 m including over Rs. 500 m in net foreign buying and ranked 33rd in market cap on maiden trading

Stock market debutant WindForce Ltd. yesterday gained by 15.6% or Rs. 2.50 to Rs. 18.50 during its maiden trading. 

The largest renewable energy firm saw 47.5 million of its shares exchanging hands via 3,108 trades creating the highest turnover of Rs. 869.6 million or 33% of the day's total. WIND had a high of Rs. 19 and a low of Rs. 17.70. The average price was Rs. 18.30, compared with IPO price of Rs. 16.

The first trade of WIND was 541,791 shares at Rs. 17.90 each and the last was 7,008 shares at Rs. 18.40 each. WIND also saw five crossings on a combined volume of 7.2 million shares.

It finished the debut with a market capitalisation of Rs. 24.98 billion and ranked at number 33.

Incidentally, the CSE saw net foreign inflow after six weeks amounting to Rs. 413 million thanks to WIND. IPO joint manager CT CLSA said it executed FII buying of 29 million WIND shares whilst there had been 36 million shares allocated from IPO subscriptions. The foreign shareholding of WIND yesterday amounted to 65 million shares or near 5%.

NDB Equities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in WIND.

WIND’s debut was marked with a special bell ringing ceremony hosted by the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The listing follows a remarkable Initial Public Offering (IPO) by the company, through which it raised Rs. 3.2 billion through a share issue of 202.6 million at an issue price of Rs.16.00 each. The issue set a robust cornerstone with an oversubscription of approximately eight times within the first day of its offer. The IPO was recorded as the largest capital raising since 2011. 

CSE Chairman Dumith Fernando speaking at the ceremony congratulated the Board and Management at WindForce on a successful listing and added: “When I think about the impact that this company is having in terms of its renewable energy strategy, it’s quite significant that we are having this event on Earth Day, which fits very well with the company’s purpose. It is one of our main goals to encourage more companies like this, large and small to join CSE in raising capital. 

“It should be noted that, the renewed and streamlined IPO approval process ensured that the entire process of the approval was completed within a period of three weeks. This is a testament to all the work that we had prepared early in the year to make the process easier for companies. We wish the best in WindForce’s strategic plans, growth of the company and their post-listing stock performance.” 

WindForce Chairman Ranil Pathirana speaking at the event remarked: “WindForce’s journey started approximately 12 years ago, and we have had a remarkable journey. Pioneering in wind energy, WindForce has expanded to hydro and the solar forms of energy as well. Today is earth day, for WindForce every day is an earth day. 

“We are playing this role and we will continue to play this role in the future, as we support the world moving towards clean energy and our Government policy to achieve a larger percentage of power generation from renewable energy by 2030. 

“On behalf of WindForce, I wish to thank CSE for expediting and supporting the listing process. WindForce is confident in becoming a truly global clean energy power company and we hope that the company can play a significant role on the future development and growth of Sri Lanka’s capital market.” 

WIND Founder Chairman Janak Hirdaramani, Chairman Ranil Pathirana, Vice Chairman Asgi Akbarally, Managing Director Manjula Perera, Director Moiz Najmudeen, CSE Chairman Dumith Fernando, Directors Jayantha Fernando, Suren De Silva, CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike, Joint Managers to IPO CTCLSA Director and Chief Operating Officer Zakir Mohamedally and CAL Managing Director, Global Markets and Investment Banking Deshan Pushparajah were among officials present.

Bourse turns bearish again after Wednesday’s rebound