Porsche shares dip below IPO pricing as markets slump

Shares in Porsche fell below their initial public offering, as interest in the sports-car maker was not enough to offset an overall downturn in European automotive stocks.

On Monday, the third day of trading since Porsche’s $72 billion listing by parent company Volkswagen Group, the share price was 81 euros, down from the IPO pricing of 82.50 euros. 

The wider market was also down, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index losing 0.6 percent while a sub-index of auto stocks, the SXAP, fell by about 1.1 percent.

One banker involved in the Porsche IPO said that while shares in the automaker were down, they have done well compared with much bigger drops on the wider market over the past three days.

Shares in Porsche avoided dropping below its IPO pricing for the first two days of trading on Thursday and Friday, closing flat at 82.50 euros both days.

A second banker involved in the deal added that risk sentiment had probably taken over, explaining Monday’s fall in Porsche shares.

Since the company made its debut, the wider autos .SXAP sector is down about 5.6 percent while shares in parent VW are down about 10 percent.

Porsche’s listing reaped roughly 9.4 billion euros in proceeds for VW, which went ahead with the IPO amid Europe’s energy squeeze and concerns that global central banks will have to continue raising rates to tame inflation. 

Oliver Blume, the CEO of both VW and Porsche, has said the maker of the iconic 911 model will win over investors by showing resilience as it has in recent crises, including the pandemic and subsequent semiconductor shortage.

Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report