Reliance Power - outperformer in this market - ADAG!

Disappointed by the poor showing of Reliance Power shares on the day of listing, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group today said losses for market bigwigs, including Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and other blue chip companies, were much higher at up to 40%.

In a bid to ward off criticism that the poor showing of Reliance Power on debut pulled down the market, an ADAG spokesperson said: "A very large number of pivotals, including RIL, ONGC, NTPC, DLF, ICICI Bank, BHEL and L&T, have actually declined in a much larger range of 20-40% in the same period (since the IPO opened on January 14)."

"The Reliance Power stock has simply been marked-to-market for this decline (across the market) on the day of listing," a group spokesperson, highly agitated by the all-round attack on the company, said.

"We are naturally disappointed that Reliance Power stock closed lower (at Rs 372.3 per share) than the IPO price (of Rs 450) on the first day of listing.

"... We remain extremely confident of delivering superior long term returns to over four million shareholders on their investments in the Reliance Power IPO," the spokesperson said.

Asked if retail investors had lost over Rs 475 crore in the debut trade, particularly in a company owned by an Ambani, he replied in the affirmative. "The decline is not specific to Reliance Power. It mirrors the sharp meltdown in global capital markets over the past three weeks," he said, adding that since the time of IPO the Sensex has plunged 20% while Reliance Power stock was down 17% from the issue price.

Updated at 1600 hrs: Reliance Power, a subsidairy of Reliance Energy, was listed at Rs 548 - a premium of 21.7% to its issue price of Rs 450 - on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The stock hit a high of Rs 600 and dropped to a low of Rs 355 in late trades.

The stock finally ended at Rs 372 - a discount of Rs 78. The weighted average price on the BSE was Rs 413, and around 6.38 crore shares changed hands on the exchange.

On the NSE, the stock was listed at Rs 530, and closed at Rs 372 on hefty volumes of around 13.40 crore shares.

The IPO was subscribed approximately 70 times and attracted over five million bids from all categories of investors with an aggregate commitment of over Rs 7,50,000 crore as against the issue size of Rs 11,560 crore.

"The listing basically shows that one stock can not lift sentiment irrespective of whatever quarter it comes from unless investors see value in them," said Pankaj Namdharni, head, equities, SPA Securities.

"The future of IPOs will depend on the valuation at which promoters decide to sell the issue and the value investors see in a stock. For instance, there is significan upside in REC," said Namdharni.

Adds Gaurang Shah of Geojit: "I was sceptical at the valuation from the beginning and my fears came true. Those who bought the shares at high interest are selling them at whatever prices they can get. There is no buying interest from any quarter, either retail or institutions, which is why the stock is falling," Shah said