Adyen card payment terminal. Author Alper Çuğun
Quarter IV is the last chance for companies to enter the market this year, before all sorts of unpleasant "surprises" would overtake them in 2019. The most successful initial public offerings of this year once again prove that the high-tech sector is still leading, while the real estate and finance sectors are not having the best time.
Here are the best and worst IPOs of European companies in 2018 with a placement volume above $ 250 million.
Best
1. Adyen (+ 195% to the placement rate; first trading day June 13)
Adyen is a Dutch fintech company that is called a competitor to PayPal. Its success story was one of the most impressive this year. The company's market capitalization at the time of the IPO reached € 7.1 billion, or $ 8.3 billion. Despite the fact that some investors lost faith in Adyen in September, and began selling shares, which negatively affected the company’s profitability, the growth soon resumed with a new force. But David Ritter from Bloomberg Intelligence still warns that, although the company's client list is “impressive,” it is likely overvalued. Josh Levin from Citigroup Inc. also notes: “Although Adyen remains one of the best companies in the payment sector, further growth is hardly possible.”
2. Sensirion (+ 85%; March 22)
Sensirion, a Swiss electronics company, held an IPO in March, which provided the company with a capitalization of $ 531 million Swiss francs. Sensirion expects a full-year adjusted EBITDA margin of 16%.
3. Netcompany (+ 48%; June 7)
Judging by results of the Morgan Stanley survey, the demand for software will be growing over the decade. In this area, analysts are particularly interested in Netcompany, a Danish IT company, as it has a good ratio of the market price of a share to its profit. Netcompany’s initial offering provided the company with a capitalization of DKK 7.75 billion ($ 1.2 billion). Nevertheless, Alex Taut, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said in August that decisions taken by the company's management this year led to “slightly disappointing” results - the adjusted EBITA margin fell to a low level from 24.5% to 27.5%.
Worst
1. CEVA Logistics (-32% to the placement rate; first trading day May 4)
CEVA Logistics is a global logistics company in the field of freight management. Total revenue from the IPO amounted to approximately 1.2 billion francs ($ 1.22 billion). Already on the first day of trading, CEVA Logistics shares fell by more than 8%. In July, CEO Xavier Urbein announced that the company aimed to increase market share and expand in Europe and Asia. According to Bloomberg, now the company's shares have three “buy” and one neutral recommendations.
2. Metrovacesa (-29%; February 6)
Shares of the Spanish developer began to fall from the very first day of trading, which led to a temporary repurchase in August. The company's capitalization amounted to € 2.5 billion against an initial valuation of € 2.95 billion. The company became a symbol of the real estate bubble in Spain, which burst in 2009. Now Metrovacesa hopes for new growth - low unemployment and five years of economic recovery are stimulating demand for housing, and the company has enough land to build about 37,500 houses throughout Spain.
3. DWS Group (-27%; March 23)
DWS Group is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. The bank sold 22.5% of the company's shares at € 32.5 per share, having recovered € 1.4 billion. However, after some investors withdrew their funds from the management of DWS Group, quotes of its shares declined markedly.
source: bloomberg.com
Here are the best and worst IPOs of European companies in 2018 with a placement volume above $ 250 million.
Best
1. Adyen (+ 195% to the placement rate; first trading day June 13)
Adyen is a Dutch fintech company that is called a competitor to PayPal. Its success story was one of the most impressive this year. The company's market capitalization at the time of the IPO reached € 7.1 billion, or $ 8.3 billion. Despite the fact that some investors lost faith in Adyen in September, and began selling shares, which negatively affected the company’s profitability, the growth soon resumed with a new force. But David Ritter from Bloomberg Intelligence still warns that, although the company's client list is “impressive,” it is likely overvalued. Josh Levin from Citigroup Inc. also notes: “Although Adyen remains one of the best companies in the payment sector, further growth is hardly possible.”
2. Sensirion (+ 85%; March 22)
Sensirion, a Swiss electronics company, held an IPO in March, which provided the company with a capitalization of $ 531 million Swiss francs. Sensirion expects a full-year adjusted EBITDA margin of 16%.
3. Netcompany (+ 48%; June 7)
Judging by results of the Morgan Stanley survey, the demand for software will be growing over the decade. In this area, analysts are particularly interested in Netcompany, a Danish IT company, as it has a good ratio of the market price of a share to its profit. Netcompany’s initial offering provided the company with a capitalization of DKK 7.75 billion ($ 1.2 billion). Nevertheless, Alex Taut, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said in August that decisions taken by the company's management this year led to “slightly disappointing” results - the adjusted EBITA margin fell to a low level from 24.5% to 27.5%.
Worst
1. CEVA Logistics (-32% to the placement rate; first trading day May 4)
CEVA Logistics is a global logistics company in the field of freight management. Total revenue from the IPO amounted to approximately 1.2 billion francs ($ 1.22 billion). Already on the first day of trading, CEVA Logistics shares fell by more than 8%. In July, CEO Xavier Urbein announced that the company aimed to increase market share and expand in Europe and Asia. According to Bloomberg, now the company's shares have three “buy” and one neutral recommendations.
2. Metrovacesa (-29%; February 6)
Shares of the Spanish developer began to fall from the very first day of trading, which led to a temporary repurchase in August. The company's capitalization amounted to € 2.5 billion against an initial valuation of € 2.95 billion. The company became a symbol of the real estate bubble in Spain, which burst in 2009. Now Metrovacesa hopes for new growth - low unemployment and five years of economic recovery are stimulating demand for housing, and the company has enough land to build about 37,500 houses throughout Spain.
3. DWS Group (-27%; March 23)
DWS Group is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. The bank sold 22.5% of the company's shares at € 32.5 per share, having recovered € 1.4 billion. However, after some investors withdrew their funds from the management of DWS Group, quotes of its shares declined markedly.
source: bloomberg.com