EMA Partners India shares hit 5% lower circuit after listing at 26% premium on NSE SME

Executive search firm EMA Partners made a strong debut on the NSE SME platform on Friday, January 24, with its shares listing at a premium of 26% over the IPO price.

The stock started trading at ₹156.5 apiece against the issue price of ₹124 per share, showing gains of 26.2%. However, soon after listing the stock plunged up to 4.72% to hit an intraday low of ₹149.1 apiece on the NSE amid profit booking.

More than 12 lakh shares changed hands on the exchange. The total trading value stood at ₹18.9 crore. The company’s market capitalisation reached ₹348.7 crore.

At the listing price of ₹156.5 per share, the value of a single lot of shares bagged by investors in the IPO share allotment stood at ₹1,56,500 (₹156.5 x 1,000).

The IPO investors would have made gains of ₹32,500 per lot as the minimum investment in a single lot was ₹1,24,000 (₹124 x 1,000).

EMA Partners India launched its initial public offering on January 17 to raise ₹76.01 crore from public investors. The issue received strong demand for shares across investor categories and was subscribed 221 times on the final day on January 21.

The public offer received applications for more than 90.14 crore shares against 40.77 lakh shares on offer.

The Qualified Institutional Buyers’ (QIBs) portion was booked more than 147 times with applications for more than 17.19 crore shares pouring in against 11.64 lakh shares on offer. The retail segment was subscribed over 167 times. Retail investors bid for over 34.11 crore shares against 20.39 lakh shares set aside for them. The Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) quota was booked the most by 444 times. NIIs placed bids for more than 38.84 crore shares against 8.74 lakh shares on offer.

EMA Partners offers hiring solutions to clients across sectors. The Mumbai-based executive search company, which recruits business and functional managers for clients, also offers Leadership Advisory. The company has subsidiaries in Singapore and Dubai, with expertise in C-suite and board-level hiring.

According to company RHP, EMA Partners will use net IPO proceeds to invest in its subsidiaries. A sum of ₹25.53 crore has been proposed for strengthening the company and subsidiary leadership teams. Another ₹6.44 crore would be spent on upgrading the IT infrastructure, and ₹5.42 crore will be used to repay loans taken out for the purchase of office premises.

The company reported a profit after tax of ₹4.37crore for the April-July period of FY 2024-25. Its revenue stood at ₹25.28 crore during the period.

EMA Partners reported a profit of ₹14.27 crore for FY 2023-24 against ₹3.07 crore in FY 2022-23. Its revenue increased to ₹67.29 crore in FY24 against ₹50.14 crore in the preceding financial year.