Following the de-merger from Reliance Industries, shares of the financial subsidiary Jio Financial Services will be traded on the bourses from August 21, the first such listing for the Reliance Group in the last 17 years.
The share price was set at ₹261.85 in a price discovery session on July 20, valuing the company at ₹1.66-lakh crore, making it the third largest NBFC in the country after Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv.
Further, the stock will continue to remain a part of the FTSE indices, with FTSE Russell withdrawing its proposed deletion on Friday after the announcement of the listing date.
Jio Financial was to be deleted from several FTSE Indices, effective August 22, for failing to commence trading after 20 business days. Jio Financial de-merged from Reliance Industries on July 13, as a part of which shareholders of RIL were allotted one share of Jio Financial for every share held.
The stock was set to be removed from the FTSE RAFI All World 3000 Index, the FTSE RAFI All World 3000 Index-QSR, the FTSE RAFI Emerging Index, and the FTSE RAFI Emerging Index-QSR.
To list at a premium
Analysts expect the NBFC’s shares to list at a premium, surpassing even the ₹300 mark, given its high net worth and the relatively lower value it commands compared with peers. Being touted as a strategic move by RIL to attract new investors, partners, and lenders in the financial services space, experts see the company scaling rapidly. However, in the near term, the stock is expected to face some selling pressure from ETFs and index funds as it will be removed from the Nifty 50 and Sensex three days after listing.
Jio Financial posted a profit of ₹31.25 crore for FY23, much lower than ₹168.04 crore in the previous year, largely on the back of a sharp fall in operating profit to ₹39.28 crore. It saw interest income of ₹38.34 crore in FY23 and other income of ₹3.21 crore.
In its annual general meeting, Reliance Industries’ Chairman Mukesh Ambani said Jio Financial will offer straightforward, reasonably priced, and creative digital-first solutions by leveraging the technological capabilities of Reliance. Jio Financial has already entered into an asset management JV with US-based BlackRock and also has plans to foray into the insurance sector.