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TLI
initially rose 0.63% but ended the day 0.62% below the IPO
price, with the broader Thai market up 0.49%
TLI was the most actively traded stock on the Bangkok stock
exchange with over 639 million shares changing hands, data
showed.
TLI shares were priced at 16 baht, and the sale of 2.3 billion
shares raised at least 34.4 billion baht ($937 million), with
about half coming from investors who bought before the deal went
public, according to regulatory filings.
The volume of capital markets deals, especially IPOs, has fallen
sharply in 2022 in Asia as global financial markets remain
roiled by geopolitics, rising interest rates and ongoing
uncertainty caused by Chinese regulatory upheaval.
Thai Life's flat opening was a reflection of high valuation and
broader market performance, analysts said.
The flat debut is in line with Thailand's listed insurance
sector, which has weakened over the past month.
Share prices of major insurance stocks have fallen by about 5.3%
since TLI published its revised prospectus on June 24 ahead of
its IPO launch, according to Global Equity Research analyst Arun
George, who publishes on Smartkarma.
"Given the past growth record for the company, we see no reason
for it to trade at a premium to its embedded value and hence,
the shares will probably head lower," said Sumeet Singh,
Aequitas Research director.
TLI's total revenue declined 0.69% in 2020 and grew just 1.49%,
reaching 109.2 billion baht in 2021, according its financial
accounts.
Thailand's economy was among the slowest in the region to
recover from the impact of the pandemic, according to the latest
report from the Asian Development Bank.
TLI has the third-largest market share among Thai insurers and
competes with other market leaders - AIA, FWD and Muang Thai
Life Assurance. It plans to use funds from the IPO to invest in
digital transformation and strengthening partnerships.
The insurer's IPO has been the largest equity capital market
deal in Southeast Asia in 2022, according to Refinitiv data.
There were $2.45 billion worth of IPOs in the region in the
first half of 2022, compared with $6.1 billion in the same
period last year.
($1 = 36.7000 baht)
(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok and Scott Murdoch
in Hong Kong; Editing by Ed Davies, Bradley Perrett & Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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