Solar is hot
Solar energy firm ErSol’s stocks shine on debut
Web posted at: 10/1/2005 2:54:7
Source ::: AFP
FRANKFURT: Shares in the solar energy specialist ErSol rocketed skywards on their first day of trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange yesterday, spotlighting investors’ growing interest in the renewable energy sector.
Shares in ErSol, which makes photovoltaic cells, made their stock exchange debut at 65 euros ($780), far above the issue price of 42 euros. They subsequently fell back somewhat as some investors immediately took profit. And by mid-morning, the shares were changing hands at 57.05 euros.
Investor interest in the initial public offering (IPO) of ErSol had been hot in the run-up to Friday, with the issue 50 times oversubscribed, meaning that investors applied for 50 times more shares than were actually on offer. As a result, the shares were issued at 42 euros, the top end of the bookbuilding range of 36-42 euros.
The Erfurt-based group, which was set up in 1997 and has annual sales of around 50 million euros, issued a total 3.659 million shares as part of the IPO, pocketing a total 154 million euros in proceeds.
The fresh funds are to be invested in capacity expansion.
Another maker of solar cells, Q-Cells, is scheduled to go public on October 5. Its shares are being offered to investors in a price range of 35-38 euros. Another photovoltaic and solar thermal specialist, Conergy, went public in March.
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