Jubilant Foodworks Limited (JFL) listed its shares yesterday on the BSE and NSE. The shares were issued at Rs 145 and listed at Rs 161.60 on the BSE and Rs 160 on the NSE. The opening prices were the lows for the day.

The share was very active throughout the day and saw huge volumes. At the end of the day total volumes of 8.87 cr shares against an issue of 2.26 cr shares meant that 3.925 times the issued capital through the IPO was traded on day one. The share was short sold seeing the smart rise in the price once it broke through the Rs 200 mark. The last hour of trade particularly the last 30 minutes saw frenzied short covering and one saw the stock make new highs right at the close. The fact that the close for the day which is on the basis of weighted average close for trade of last 30 minutes saw the stock close at Rs 229 and Rs 229.10 respectively even though the last traded price was in the range of Rs 240-241.

The total delivery was 144.76 lac shares which is 73.85% of the delivery of the net issue less anchor investors. The issue was for 226 lac shares and had an anchor investor portion of roughly 30 lac shares. This delivery is an extremely high percentage and is a cause for concern. In terms of delivery percentage to traded volume it was 16.32% which is near normal.

Three things went in favour of the company, one quarterly results were announced for the December quarter prior to listing and guidance for the fourth quarter and full year ending March 2010 was given, secondly during the conference call company has made projections and statements regarding the performance for the next two years and thirdly short selling at higher levels. It would be very crucial for fresh buying support to emerge today and tomorrow for the share to remain positive.