Istanbul, May 12 - Shares in the Turkish unit of Coca Cola leapt 17 percent in their debut on Friday as strong investor interest helped it shrug off a broad market sell-off.
Small Islamic lender Bank Asya, which also began trading on Friday, surged 22 percent as it hit its ceiling price in both sessions. The bourse sets a trading band for individual shares of about 10 percent up or down during a single session.
Coca Cola Icecek, which had been oversubscribed 11 times in its initial public offering, rose to 8.5 lira at 1125 GMT from its IPO price of 7.25 lira after hitting its ceiling price in the morning. Volume amounted to over 230 million lira ($165 million).
Shares in Bank Asya stood at 4.26 lira, compared with a price of 3.5 lira in its IPO which valued it at $160 million. The deal had been around 50 times oversubscribed. Trading volume was 4.1 million lira.
"Given the high demand for the public offerings, it is natural for them to open at their ceiling prices. The market is down ... and on the first trading day all attention is on the IPOs," said Ekspres Investment analyst Omer Omerbas.
The main Istanbul share index was 4 percent lower in afternoon trade as foreign investor sentiment towards Turkey turned negative amid worries about the country's gaping current account deficit and high inflation.
Coca Cola Icecek had been priced near the top of its initial range, valuing the deal for about 20 percent of the company at $320 million, including an overallotment option.
THIRD ATTEMPT BY COCA COLA
It was the third attempt by Coca Cola's Turkish unit to list on the stock market after the last deal was pulled at end-2004.
Coca Cola Icecek became the biggest bottler of soft drinks in Turkey and central Asia last year after buying a 52 percent stake in Efes Sinai Yatirim Holding from its main stakeholder Anadolu Efes.
The company, which posted a 15 percent rise in sales in 2005 to $1.2 billion, also has businesses in Jordan and northern Iraq, where it is considering expanding.
Foreign investors were allocated 68 percent of the offering.
Until the latest market sell-off, Turkey's buoyant economy and the start of Ankara's membership talks with the European Union had boosted investor sentiment. However, recent IPOs in Turkey have had mixed fortunes.
Vestel White Goods stock has fallen below its offer price since last month's IPO. Shares in pharmaceutical distributor Selcuk Ecza have risen 20 percent.
Bank Asya had been expected to attract relatively strong interest, because it will be the only listed Islamic bank and is one of few such lenders in Turkey. Charging interest is forbidden in Islam, and these banks use profit-sharing instead.
Offers for the issue amounted to almost $7.5 billion. Bank Asya's assets jumped 40 percent last year to 2.6 billion lira. Its net profit jumped 158 percent to 94.8 million lira.
The present government in officially secular Turkey has Islamist roots, and some analysts said this lured investors to the listing of about 20 percent of the bank's capital.