Jio Financial lists on D-St, falls 5% on expected passive fund selling
Jio Financial Services fell 5% on debut Monday amid expectations of a flood of sale orders from passive funds which can't hold the shares anymore. But the company is confident of making strides in lending business with the best of technology.
The shares which listed earlier than anticipated fell to ₹251.75 on the BSE, giving it a market value of ₹1.6 lakh crore, after opening trade at ₹265 apiece.
The company, which has multiple lines of business in finance, was spun off from Reliance Industries.
«Jio Financial services will seek to optimise all that India provides,» said chairman KV Kamath at the listing. «There are some advantages to being a little late to the party, because you then have the advantage of riding on all the technological developments which are already visible and optimising them to the fullest extent.»
Reliance's Jio joins the likes of financial services conglomerates Bajaj Finserv and Aditya Birla Capital to cater to the soaring demand for loans from individuals and merchants.
It would also provide services such as insurance broking and investment products through a mutual fund.
«It aspires to be a leading NBFC by focusing on five critical pillars: product portfolio, customer strategy, technological capabilities, liability strategy and people strategy,» said Prakar Sharma, an analyst at Jefferies.
The stock exchange derived price was ₹262 apiece. But investors expect the price to fall further as passive index funds sell their holdings, which they received for their ownership in Reliance Industries shares, to stay within their mandate of owning index stocks only.
