SINGAPORE — Investors gave Japfa a warm welcome on Friday (Aug 15), with shares in the agri-food company closing 5.6 per cent above the initial offering price following active trading on its debut in Singapore.

Japfa shares closed at 84.5 cents each, up from the IPO price of 80 cents after about 68.7 million shares changed hands, making it the third most actively traded stock on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). The rally followed strong investor demand for its IPO that was oversubscribed by around 9.7 times.

“We are pleased to continue using Singapore as our base, to further expand and entrench our leadership positions across multiple protein foods,” Japfa chief executive Tan Yong Nang said during the listing ceremony at SGX.

“With operations in five high-growth Asian markets, Japfa’s listing presents investors with an opportunity to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities in the fast growing staple proteins market.”

Headquartered in Singapore, the company is present in Indonesia, China, Vietnam, India and Myanmar, with operations ranging from feed production, breeding to farming and processing.

Japfa’s IPO comes as SGX seeks to grow its listing and trading activities, following a tough year that saw the bourse’s net profit for the financial year ended June dropping by 4.6 per cent due to weaker securities business. In the fourth quarter alone, net profit declined by 11.6 per cent.

Against this backdrop, the diversity that Japfa brings to SGX is a positive development, the bourse’s chief executive Magnus Bocker said.

“With the listing of Japfa, the food and beverage sector on SGX will now have 47 listed companies, with a combined market cap of more than S$60 billion,” he said at the SGX ceremony.

The listing “adds diversity to our food and beverage sector and more importantly, provides our investors with access to the fast growing staple proteins market,” he added.