Strong Start! Advance Agrolife shares list at 14% premium over IPO price – News Air Insight

Shares of Advance Agrolife, one of India’s fast-growing agrochemical manufacturers, made their stock market debut on Wednesday, listing at a premium of 14%. The stock debuted at Rs 114 apiece on the NSE compared to the issue price of Rs 100. On the BSE, shares of Advance Agrolife listed at Rs 113, marking a 13% premium over its IPO price.

The listing was broadly in line with unlisted market expectations. The grey market premium (GMP) for Advance Agrolife hovered around 15% just ahead of the debut.

The Rs 193-crore IPO, which closed on October 3, received a robust overall subscription of 56.9 times.

Strong subscription response

The strong demand across investor categories suggests healthy listing-day momentum. The NII segment was the star performer, subscribed a massive 175 times, while QIBs subscribed 27 times and retail investors 23 times. The employee quota also saw good participation.

IPO details

The issue included a fresh issue of 1.93 crore shares and offered employees a discount of Rs 5 per share. Choice Capital Advisors was the book-running lead manager, and Kfin Technologies acted as registrar.

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Business snapshot

Advance Agrolife manufactures a diverse range of agrochemical products, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and plant growth regulators. It also produces micronutrient and bio-fertilizers, along with technical-grade ingredients used for pesticide and fertilizer formulations.

Its products cater to major crop cycles and are used across cereals, vegetables, and horticulture, both in India and overseas.

Financials

Financially, Advance Agrolife has shown consistent growth, although momentum moderated slightly in FY25. Revenue grew 10% to Rs 502.9 crore, while profit after tax rose 4% to Rs 25.6 crore. The company maintains solid return ratios — ROE at 25.4% and ROCE at 27% — supported by efficient asset utilisation and manageable debt levels (debt-to-equity ratio at 0.8).

At a post-issue P/E of around 25 times, analysts see valuations as slightly aggressive but justified given the strong order book, expanding product mix, and favourable agri-sector outlook.

The IPO proceeds will mainly fund working capital needs, enabling higher production capacity and export expansion.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)