Behari Lal Engg IPO list at 63% premium, touches ₹529 on listing day

Shares of Behari Lal Engineering Ltd (BLEL) soared on their debut on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday, August 19, trading at ₹529, marking a 63% premium over the issue price of ₹285. The stock opened at ₹465 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), reflecting a 63.1% premium. By late morning, the share price had risen further to hit an intraday high of ₹529, delivering over 77% gains for investors who received allotment at the IPO price.

The company's market capitalization surged to approximately ₹2,137 crore on listing day, a significant increase from ₹1,206 crore at the upper price band. BLEL's IPO, priced at ₹285, was oversubscribed 108.44 times, with bids for 80.38 crore shares surpassing the available 74.13 lakh shares. Anchor investors in the issue included Tata AIA Life Insurance, PineBridge Global Funds, WhiteOak Capital, and Bandhan Mutual Fund.

Proceeds from the issue, totaling ₹302 crore, were earmarked for capital expenditure at BLEL's manufacturing facilities and partial debt repayment. Analyst Shivani Nyati of Swastika Investmart cited the IPO's valuation at 18.7x FY26 earnings, lower than the peer average of roughly 31x, as a key factor behind the stock's strong opening.

She suggested allotted investors to consider partial profit-taking, while long-term holders should set a stop-loss at ₹380. BLEL is India's largest producer of metal rolls, accounting for 10-11.5% of domestic demand in FY26, with revenue of ₹534 crore and a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹65 crore.