Raymond Lifestyle falls after debuting with $2.2 bln valuation

Indian apparel maker Raymond Lifestyle, carved out of Raymond , notched a $2.19 billion valuation in its stock market debut on Thursday, before shares fell by the maximum allowed 5% as investors booked profits.

The nearly 100-year-old Raymond had spun off its lifestyle business this year to simplify its group structure, attract more investors and help the carved-out entity gain better access to capital.

Shareholders received four shares of Raymond Lifestyle for every five held in Raymond.

Unlike a traditional listing after an initial public offering, Raymond Lifestyle's listing price was derived through a market discovery process, where the price is determined through bids and offers received in pre-open trade.

Raymond Lifestyle listed at a discovery price of Rs 3,020, giving it a valuation of Rs 18,399 crore ($2.19 billion) according to data from NSE, which topped the Rs 2,150-2,930 range expected by at least three analysts.

"The listed price is above expectations," said WealthMills Securities equity strategist Kranthi Bathini.

"Raymond has a very good brand strength. It has created strong wealth creation by unlocking the value of lifestyle business."

The stock fell 5% to an exchange-mandated lower limit of Rs 2,869 shortly after listing, valuing the company at $2.08 billion, which analysts attributed to profit booking.

"It might be a good idea to book profits," Hensex Securities analyst Mahesh Ojha said, adding that the stock should trade between Rs 2,650 and Rs 2,700 based on a one-year forward price-to-earnings ratio.

Raymond Lifestyle houses the group's core suits and shirts business, includes clothing labels such as ColorPlus, and manufactures menswear including blazers for brands globally.

For the year ended March, Raymond Lifestyle recorded revenue of 70 billion rupees, nearly thrice the combined revenue of its parent's engineering and real estate businesses.

In the next three years, Raymond expects sales growth of 12%-15% for its lifestyle business, with core earnings doubling to over 20 billion rupees, finance chief Amit Agarwal said this week.