Pakistan’s largest cable maker plans to launch one of country’s biggest share listings

Lahore-based Fast Cables Ltd. is gearing up to launch one of Pakistan's largest share listings this month, aiming to raise a minimum of 3 billion rupees ($11 million) to bolster its production and putting it among Pakistan’s 10 biggest initial public offerings, according to a report by Bloomberg

Managing Director Kamal Mahmood Amjad Mian announced that the country's largest power-cable maker plans to conduct book building on May 15 and 16.

Pakistan’s benchmark stock index has surged by an impressive 74% over the past year, making it to world’s best-performing market in dollar terms. The progress has catalyzed a revival in share sales, evidenced by three companies currently in the process of listing on the exchange.

Investor sentiment has surged following earlier elections and smooth progress with the International Monetary Fund for loans, marking a turnaround for a nation on the brink of bankruptcy last summer.

“At the macro level, there is some stability now. However, the market has a long way to go.” Mian said in an interview.

Fast Cables plans to issue 128 million shares at a floor price of 23.5 rupees each, with book building preceding a general public offering.

The head of investment banking at AKD Securities Ltd, Abadan Mohajir said “The company is Shariah-compliant with a history of dividend payouts.”

“Fast Cables was the only Pakistani company that competed with Chinese firms when it won a contract for a key transmission line from a vast coal mine and power project in the Thar desert” stated Mian.

The company was started in the 1980s by Mian’s family with a strategic focus on the power infrastructure sector that has proven resilient to economic fluctuations, boasting an impressive average annual growth rate of nearly 50% over the last five years. The company now aims to triple its revenue to around 100 billion rupees by 2030.