StanChart India makes muted debut; no IDR rush seen

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Standard Chartered's issue of Indian depositary receipts, the first in Asia's third-largest economy, closed below their offer price on their debut, doing little to boost the chance of another issue.

The bank, which raised about $530 million after pricing its IDRs toward the lower end of an indicated range on May 30, has said the deal was more about building its brand and presence in its second-largest market by profit than about raising funds.

Emerging markets-focused Standard Chartered's IDRs ended at 103.05 rupees, versus a 104 rupee issue price and with the main market <.BSESN> up 0.8 percent.

"The debut was disappointing because of market volatility and the fact that this is a new instrument ... and some regulatory issues are not favourable to investors," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head at SMC Capitals, said.

"Overall, this concept will take time to pick up in India and I don't see a huge rush for IDRs in the Indian market in the near future," he said.

Standard Chartered's sale of 240 million depositary receipts, equivalent to 24 million London-listed shares, was closely watched by other foreign firms with a large consumer presence in India.

The IDR came on the heels of two disappointing domestic listings -- Indian road builder Jaypee Infratech tumbled on its debut last month, a day after state utility Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam ended below its offer price on its first day.

Those raised concerns about new issues amid global market uncertainty and sluggish investments by overseas buyers.

On Thursday, India deferred a decision on approving stake sales worth up to $3.7 billion in state-run miners Coal India and Hindustan Copper .

The new IDRs were the most actively traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange (^BSESN : 17064.95 +142.87), with nearly 20 million changing hands.

Analysts said Indian regulations might keep a lid on the IDR's performance in the near term. Insurance companies, for example, are not allowed to invest in foreign stocks, and the IDRs cannot be converted into London shares in their first year.

StanChart's Thursday closing price in London of 1,649 pence had indicated a price of about 113 rupees per IDR at Friday morning's exchange rates. The bank's London shares were down 3.0 percent at 1,599 pence by 1310 GMT.

ARBITRAGE ANGLE

"I see the IDRs trading at 6-8 percent discount to London price in the short term before a trend is determined," said Arun Kejriwal, director of KRIS.

"There are several reasons for this discount, most important is insurance companies, who have money, cannot invest; second is this cannot be converted to equity within one year. People who have arbitrage angle in mind will not be interested."

StanChart's profit in India rose 19 percent to $1.06 billion last year, contributing 21 percent of group earnings and ranking India just behind Hong Kong as its biggest profit centre.

The largest international bank in India, where it has had a presence for 152 years, StanChart has 94 branches and 17,500 staff in the country. It is expanding across Asia after weathering the financial crisis better than many rivals.

UBS , Goldman Sachs , JM Financial Consultants, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch , Kotak (KOTAKBANK.NS : 759.35 +15.25) Mahindra Capital and SBI (SBIN.NS : 2339.9 +13.05) Capital Markets managed Standard Chartered's offering.

(Additional reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Dan Lalor)