Jio Financial Services shares list on stock exchanges

Jio Financial Services: Jio Financial Services has been listed on BSE and NSE on Monday. The company's listing debuted at Rs 265 on BSE and Rs 262 on NSE. The stock was 5 per cent down on NSE on its opening. Veteran banker KV Kamath, who is an independent director of Reliance Industries, inaugurated the listing. This marks the first company of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited to be listed in two decades.

During the listing, Kamath said, "Jio Financial Services will ride on the India story, and it will provide growth and momentum." The shares of Jio Financial Services, which is the financial arm of Ambani's RIL, were demerged from Reliance Industries last month. Jio Financial Services is the ninth largest financial institution in terms of market capitalisation. 

Strategic expansion plans

Jio Financial Services through its operating subsidiaries and joint ventures will offer a broad range of financial services solutions addressing the needs of both consumers and merchants. The company will primarily operate in the NBFC market and credit market segment and has strategic plans to expand its operations into insurance, digital payment, and asset management verticals.

Last month, the company announced its tie-up with Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, to float a mutual fund company. Together, the partnership will introduce a new player to the Indian market targeting an initial investment of $300 million (Rs 2,493.3 crore).

Reliance Industries' Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, in his message to shareholders in the company's 2022-23 Annual Report, said that Jio Financial Services is positioned uniquely to capture the growth opportunities in the financial services sector and play a crucial role in transforming the landscape of digital finance in India.

Shares hit the lower circuit

Shares of Jio Financial Services (JFS), carved out of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, fell as much as 5 per cent in their trading debut on Monday, valuing the company at Rs 1.58 lakh crore ($19 billion).

The current valuation makes it the third-largest non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India, behind Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv, which are valued at Rs 4.15 lakh crore and Rs 2.32 crore, respectively.

While JFS is yet to build out a business in India's fast-growing financial services sector, analysts say its access to the vast trove of data from Reliance's telecom, digital, and retail businesses will give it a leg up in lending.

(With Reuters inputs)