In today’s briefing:
- Life Insurance Corp of India IPO: Premium Market
- Huitongda IPO – First Day Trading
Life Insurance Corp of India IPO: Premium Market
- Life Insurance Corp of India (1248Z IN) is the largest life insurer in India. LIC is looking to raise about $8 billion. It opens for anchor investors on 11 March.
- LIC has leveraged its dominance to deliver healthy premium growth and high persistency ratio. However, the VNB margin and operational efficiency metrics are mid-tier compared to peers.
- On balance, the fundamentals look sound. The IPO is worth a look for investors willing to brave the volatile IPO market conditions.
Huitongda IPO – First Day Trading
- Huitongda (9878 HK) had a subdued stock market debut with shares opening marginally above the IPO price.
- Its subdued first-day performance suggests that investors are no longer misled by artificially low valuation multiples of “1P” EC players.
- Based on EV/ (GMV + Retail Revenue), there’s a 38% downside to Huitongda’s valuation. However, it may be best to wait for signs of weakness before arranging a short position.
Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma
