Indian gaming firm Nazara's shares jump over 80% in market debut

Shares of Indian mobile gaming platform Nazara Technologies Ltd surged more than 80% in their market debut on Tuesday, reflecting investor enthusiasm for technology firms in a frenzied period for public listings.

Shares opened at 1,990 rupees ($27.34) and rose as much 83.91% to hit a high of 2,024.90 by 0444 GMT. The initial public offering raised about $80 million.

Nazara organizes e-sports events including videogame tournaments, which draw thousands of millennial fans. The company also offers a variety of free and paid mobile gaming apps for kids and adults.

"Nazara is well placed to leverage the opportunity that interactive mobile games, eSports content and gamified early learning apps offer," Motilal Oswal analysts had said earlier this month.

Its IPO is the latest in a string of public listings in India, which have raised the most in proceeds cumulatively since 2008.

Nazara's backers include billionaire Indian investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, whose stock picks are closely watched by local retail and institutional investors.

The company gets a bulk of its revenue from India and North America, but is also present in African and Middle Eastern markets. Revenue jumped 46% year-over-year to 2.48 billion rupees ($34 million) in fiscal 2020.

However, Nazara reported an annual loss of 266.2 million rupees compared with a profit of 67.1 million rupees a year earlier, hurt by costs related to a string of acquisitions, higher licensing expenses at its e-sports business and more spending on advertising.