Pine Labs shares up 9% from IPO price; Here’s why December 12 is important

Shares of newly listed Pine Labs Ltd. will remain in focus on Friday, December 12, as its one-month shareholder lock-in period comes to an end.

As many as 39.7 million shares or 3% of the company's outstanding will free up for trade as the lock-in comes to an end tomorrow, according to Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research.

Based on Thursday's market level, the value of the shares that will free up for trade tomorrow is worth nearly ₹960 crore.

It must be noted that the end of the shareholder lock-in period does not mean all the shares will be sold in the open market, but they only become eligible to be traded.

This is the second out of the two instances of shareholder lock-ins ending that Pine Labs will see this week.

The first instance of Pine Labs' shareholder lock-in ending took place on December 8, where as many as 19.8 million shares or 2% of the company's outstanding were up for trade.

In its first quarterly result after listing, Pine Labs' GTV grew by 92% from last year to $48.2 billion, while the number of transactions grew by 44% from last year to 1.9 billion.

Its net profit stood at ₹6 crore from ₹5 crore in the previous quarter, while its Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) on an adjusted basis also remained flat at ₹122 crore from ₹121 crore last year.

There was also a sharp drop in ESOP expenses that contributed to the profitability of the company this quarter. ESOP expenses fell 28% from last year and stood at 4% of revenue, compared to 7% last year.

Shares of Pine Labs are now trading 0.32% lower today at ₹241.30. The stock trades 9% above its IPO price of ₹221 per share.