OriginalartikelPivotal Year for IPOs Ends on High Note
Sunday December 28, 12:33 pm ET
By Steve James NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a year that many believe marks a turnaround in the market for initial public offerings, there were some spectacular winners, some big-name deals and a few poor performers.
According to Dealogic, an IPO financial data provider, 85 IPOs were completed in 2003, the same as the year before. The total this year was driven by a busy December, which experts say bodes well for 2004.
Bankers priced only 10 IPOs after the first six months of the year, but there was a flood of new issues in the second half, when uncertainty over the war in Iraq and the U.S. economy dissipated. There were 21 deals done in the third quarter and 54 in fourth.
Bankers priced 24 IPOs in December alone, making it the most productive month in three years since 27 deals in October 2000, according to John Fitzgibbon, editor of 123jump.com, an online IPO monitor.
"The wind was clearly at the IPO market's back this year," Fitzgibbon said.
"It certainly is heating up," said Lawrence Calahan, a partner at America's Growth Capital in Boston, an investment bank specializing in emerging growth. "The year seemed to gain steam, especially after the end of the war (in Iraq).
JUMPING BACK IN
"People were cautious but with the market showing signs of life they decided to jump back in," he told Reuters. "The public market has bounced back quicker than we anticipated, but there are still people who think maybe the market has got ahead of itself. But generally the attitude is positive.
"The expectation is that the first quarter will be equally, or more robust (than the fourth quarter)," Calahan said.
According to America's Growth Capital figures, the technology, financial, consumer and real estate sectors were more attractive to investors looking for new public companies.
Health-care and transportation IPOs generally did not fare as well.
The biggest overall winner of 2003 in aftermarket performance was Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. (NasdaqNM:LEND - News), a San Diego-based non-prime mortgage banker. It was priced in February at $8 and has climbed over 300 percent higher to more than $32. On Friday, the stock closed at $30.39 on Nasdaq.
Another mortgage firm, Franklin Bank Corp. (NasdaqNM:FBTX - News) was also well ahead of the game after pricing at $14.50 each. The IPO opened at $16.74 a share on Dec. 18, and closed Dec. 19 at $17.50 a share, up 20.7 percent. On Friday, the Houston-based savings and loan closed at $18.75 on Nasdaq.
Also in the financial sector, Infinity Property & Casualty Corp. (NasdaqNM:IPCC - News) has more than doubled its $16 IPO price and closed at $30.50 Friday on Nasdaq.
One rust-belt industry IPO -- International Steel Group Inc. (NYSE:ISG - News) -- was a surprise success, climbing 48 percent in its first two weeks. Shares closed at $40.78 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites) .
On the downside, shares of Acusphere Inc. (NasdaqNM:ACUS - News), a developer of drugs to treat the central nervous system, dropped more than 50 percent after its October IPO price of $14 to a low of $6.70. It traded down 19 cents at $8.09 Friday on Nasdaq.
Another health-care flop was NitroMed Inc. (NasdaqNM:NTMD - News), a pharmaceutical company developing drugs for heart failure in black patients. It priced its IPO at $11 on Nov. 5 and fell 15 percent on the first day of Nasdaq trading. On Friday, it rose 5 cents to $7.10.
Big-name deals grabbed the headlines in December -- China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE:LFC - News; HKSE:2628.HK - News) and Orbitz Inc. (NasdaqNM:ORBZ - News), with differing results.
China Life, China's largest life insurer, had an estimated IPO value of $3.46 billion, making it the biggest of the year. The offering was priced at $18.68 and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 17 at $23.25, rising 27 percent on the first day. On Friday, it closed up $1.51 to $32.01.
Another Chinese IPO, online travel and hotel booking firm Ctrip.com International (NasdaqNM:CTRP - News), was 80 per cent up from the IPO price. It closed Friday at $33.90 on Nasdaq, up 91 cents.
In contrast, the anticipated offering of the U.S. online travel company Orbitz was less than stellar. The shares fell about 4 percent on the first day of trading on Nasdaq, after initially rising 18 percent over the IPO price of $26.
The next day it hit a low of $22.77, but despite rising since, it was still below the IPO price and closed Friday at $23.63 on Nasdaq, down 33 cents.
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