Parkin shares surge 30% on Dubai trading debut

Company's IPO received record investor demand with deal was oversubscribed by 165 times

Parkin is the largest provider of paid parking spaces and services in Dubai. Sarah Dea / The National

Shares of Parkin, the company set up by Dubai to oversee parking operations in the emirate, surged 30 per cent as it made its trading debut on the Dubai Financial Market on Thursday.

Parkin, which started trading under the ticker symbol “PARKIN”, saw its share price jump to Dh2.73 in early trading on the DFM. It was among the most traded stocks on the bourse, with 38.6 million shares changing hands.

The company, which raised Dh1.57 billion ($429 million) from its initial public offering, was the first to tap the UAE capital markets this year, receiving record investor demand of Dh259 billion.

The Dubai Investment Fund sold 749.7 million ordinary shares of Parkin, or 24.99 per cent of the total issued share capital, in the IPO which closed on March 14.

The final offer price of Dh2.10 per share at the top of the price range announced earlier this month implied a listing market capitalisation of Dh6.3 billion.

Parkin’s IPO was oversubscribed by about 165 times across retail and institutional tranches of the deal, “the highest ever oversubscription level achieved on the DFM”, the company said earlier this month.

The qualified investor tranche attracted interest from around the world of more than Dh230 billion, while the aggregate demand for the retail component of the deal reached Dh29 billion, oversubscribed by 153 times.

As part of the emirate’s critical infrastructure, Parkin is central to Dubai’s growth plans. The company’s IPO is the latest in the series of planned listings, which aims to expand the size of the emirate's financial market to Dh3 trillion.

In November 2021, Dubai said it would list 10 state-owned companies and establish a Dh2 billion market maker fund to encourage listings from private companies in sectors such as energy, logistics and retail.

Since the announcement, the Dubai bourse has seen significant IPO activity with, companies in the emirate raising Dh34.5 billion through share sales.

Aggregate investor demand for those listings reached more than Dh1 trillion, the Dubai Securities and Exchange Higher Committee said earlier this month.

Six state-owned enterprises, including Parkin, have been listed on the DFM since 2022.

Parkin is the largest provider of paid parking spaces and services in Dubai, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the emirate's on and off-street market.

Parkin's revenue for the 2023 financial year climbed 13.5 per cent annually to Dh779.4 million.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose by 23 per cent during the period to Dh414.4 million.