Ather Energy rings the bell on Dalal Street, shares list at 2.2% premium on BSE
Ather Energy, the second EV maker to list on public bourses, will be keenly evaluated on its path to profitability, similar to its rival Ola Electric, which is yet to become a profitable entity.
Electric vehicle (EV) maker Ather Energy listed its shares on the National Stock Exchange on Tuesday at Rs 328.10 nearly a 2.2% premium to the upper band of the company’s IPO price of Rs 321 apiece.
Indian equity indices Sensex dropped by 0.24% to 80,604.97 and Nifty dropped by 0.26% at 24,401.05 at 10:05 AM on Tuesday at opening.
Ather Energy’s shares were trading at a 4.86% premium of Rs 335 apiece in the grey market on Tuesday morning before market open. The grey market is an unofficial market where traders buy and sell shares or IPO applications of companies at a premium or discount before the issues are officially launched on public markets.
The Tiger Global-backed firm had priced its IPO between Rs 304 and Rs 321 per share.
Ather’s IPO was off to a slow start last week. It saw 16% and 28% subscriptions on day one and two of its bidding, respectively, with the portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) seeing no subscriptions.
However, on the third day, QIBs rushed in to bid on the company’s IPO. The Hero MotoCorp-backed company’s offering was subscribed 1.43X on April 30—its third and final day of bidding.
Similar to rival Ola Electric, which listed last year, Ather Energy is also struggling with profitability. However, the company had managed to reel in its losses for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, at Rs 577.9 crore compared to Rs 776.4 crore in 2023.
In a pre-IPO press meet, Ather Co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta said the company will continue to improve its EBITDA margins on the back of rising volumes, driven by the demand for its Ather Rizta model.
He added that the company’s upcoming transition to cheaper LFP batteries, along with a low-cost EL Platform for its vehicles, will further help improve its margins.
Edited by Suman Singh