Latent View Analytics debuts on BSE at Rs 520, ends day at Rs 488.6 apiece

After seeing a record 326.49 times oversubscription for its initial public offering (IPO), the newly listed data analytics services firm Latent View Analytics made a memorable debut on stock markets on Tuesday.

It opened at Rs 530 apiece on the BSE, and at Rs 512.2 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India, which was over 169 percent and 160 percent higher respectively than its offer price of Rs 197 per share. This bumper gain on debut-day makes Latent View Analytics the third biggest gainer in the last decade.

Against the face value of Re 1 per equity share, Latent View Analytics' price band was a minimum price of Rs 190 per share and a maximum price of Rs 197 per share.

Out of the overall issue size of Rs 600 crore, the IPO saw a fresh issue of over 24 million shares aggregating over Rs 474 crore, while the balance Rs 126 crore involved offer for share (OFS) from selling shareholders; including shares worth over Rs 60 crore being sold by one of the promoters - Adugudi Vishwanath Venkatraman.

At an average acquisition cost of Re 0.004 a share, Venkatraman's Rs 60.15-crore encashment was a growth of 49,249 percent gain on the average cost of little over Rs 12,212. And, the value of his residual shareholding works out to Rs 5,760 crore at the closing price of Rs 488.6 a piece on the BSE.

At close, while Latent View Analytics closed lower by 7.8 percent lower than its listing price on BSE, compared to the issue price of Rs 197 the stock closed 148 percent higher on its debut day.

Headquartered in Chennai, Latent View Analytics offers consulting and data analytics services for enterprise customers in the technology, industrial, consumer packaged goods and retail, and BFSI sectors.

Latent View Analytics saw a 1.4 percent dip in fiscal-year (FY) 2021 revenue at Rs 305.9 crore, while its three-year compounded annual growth rate is 2 percent.

Its top six customers contributed 57.2 percent of its FY 2021, from 68.72 percent in FY 2020.

Latent View Analytics has retained its top five customers for an average of over six years, according to its prospectus. Its total number of customers had reduced from 58 in FY 2019 to 45 in FY 2021.

In terms of geographic spread, the United States contributes nearly 93 percent of Latent View Analytics' revenue, with 'rest of the world' (Asia-Pacific) accounting for less than 4 percent, while the United Kingdom and Netherlands total more than 3 percent of its FY 2021 revenue.

Latent View Analytics intends to use the net proceeds of the IPO to fund inorganic growth (up to Rs 149 crore) over three years, augment its subsidiaries' capital base (Rs 130 crore), and for working capital requirements (Rs 82.4 crore).