The stock of Australian Mexican restaurant chain Guzman Y Gomez surged by over a third on its first day of public trading on Thursday, indicating investor optimism following the largest initial public offering (IPO) of the year.
The Sydney-based startup's stock commenced trading at $29.90 AUD at noon local time (0200 GMT), up 36% from its issue price of $22 AUD, while the overall market remained flat.
In the first 10 minutes of trading, over 60 million shares (out of a total issue of just over 100 million shares) changed hands.
The company issued new shares worth $335.1 million AUD ($224 million USD), representing about one-sixth of the total equity. The rise in share price boosted the company's market value from $2.2 billion AUD to approximately $3 billion AUD.
In its IPO prospectus, the company forecasted a net loss for the second consecutive year in 2024 but anticipated profitability in 2025. It also proposed plans to match the number of McDonald's outlets in Australia within 20 years.
Guzman Y Gomez's (GYG) initial offering was closed to the public, primarily involving the sale of shares to existing financiers and franchise owners. The surge in stock price on Thursday sent a positive signal, following a period where high interest rates and inflation subdued demand in 2022 and 2023.
Australia's IPO market collapsed after a record year in 2021, as pandemic stimulus payments ended and central banks raised interest rates to curb inflation. According to LSEG data, as of 2024, Australia had raised only $98 million AUD from IPOs, marking the second-lowest first-half fundraising in over a decade.
