Petronet LNG Ltd, which built South Asia’s first terminal to import liquefied natural gas, drooped on its trading debut on Friday as investors were wary about a new company in a promising but nascent industry. Petronet’s shares closed on the Bombay Stock Exchange at a discount of more than two percent to its initial public offering (IPO) price in an upbeat market, after opening up nearly seven percent in heavy trade.Fund managers said the company had no earnings yet against which investors could benchmark the market price. Its business model was basically sound, but investors would need time to understand it, they said.‘‘Petronet has back-to-back deals for sourcing gas and selling it. Its returns will be stable if not exciting,’’ said a portfolio manager at a domestic mutual fund who declined to be identified.‘‘The discount is to correct for the slightly high issue price.’’Petronet had raised Rs 3.915 billion Rupees via an initial public offering earlier this month, selling 261 million shares at 15 Rupees each — at the top of the price band.(Reuters)
