The shares of Romanian state-owned company Romgaz, which started floating on both the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, November 12, soared by 15 percent on the BSE compared to the IPO price during the first trading day.

Romgaz shares ended the day with a price of RON 34.5 per share, up from the RON 30 paid by investors in the IPO.

Small investors who had benefited from a 5 percent discount during the IPO marked a 21 percent profit by selling during the first day of trading.

There were 10,000 investors who took part in the IPO, and 4,000 transactions in the first day of trading, which suggests many preferred to sell for profit during the first day, rather than wait to see what happens to share prices in the future.

On the BSE, the total value of trading during the first day was of some EUR 21 million.

Meanwhile, Romgaz' Global Depositary Receipt (GDR) started trading on the LSE, with the opening attended by Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta (in picture).

He said it was a historic moment for Romania and that after the Romgaz success, Romania wants to return with other state companies, Hidroelectrica and Electrica, to list them both on the LSE.

'I hope this will send international investors a strong message that Romania is opening up and that we will use the potential so far unused,'said the PM.

With the price of GDRs in London close to the share price in Bucharest, trading on the LSE ended at a price of USD 10.4, and 3.6 million GDRs were sold in total. This would mean the total value of sold GDRs – equivalent of Romgaz shares – was of around USD 37 million. The increase in price compared to the IPO price was of about 16 percent.

editor@romania-insider.com