By Vera Dvorakova and Izabela Niemiec
(Reuters) -Shares of Swedish gold trading platform Guldbrev Holding opened at 20.5 Swedish crowns ($2.15) per share on their market debut on the Nasdaq First North exchange on Tuesday, slightly above the 20 crowns they had been priced at during the heavily oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO).
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The price of gold reached $4,000 an ounce for the first time ever earlier in October, with investors seeking cover amid geopolitical uncertainty. This has boosted shares of gold miners and other companies trading in the precious metal.
Following the IPO, announced in September amid soaring gold prices, Guldbrev plans to distribute 60-80% of its annual net profits to shareholders.
CONTEXT
Guldbrev is a digital platform mainly active in the Nordic countries that focuses on buying gold jewellery and items from consumers, and then recycling and reselling it.
Customers can order an envelope from Guldbrev online, place their items in it and ship it to the company, its website said. Guldbrev then evaluates the gold and pays the customer back for it through a bank transfer or instant payment.
The company, which is also present in Germany and the Netherlands, sees expansion into continental Europe as the next step in its strategy to broaden its geographical revenue base and benefit from the scalability of its digital platform.
It managed to more than double its revenue between 2022 and 2024, and has said it does not see any major investment needs in its core business.
BY THE NUMBERS
Guldbrev’s IPO was subscribed for about 350 million Swedish crowns ($37 million), corresponding to about 208% of the offering.
The high subscription rate resulted in Guldbrev exercising an up-size option, where existing shareholders sold nearly 2.1 million additional shares, bringing the oversubscription rate to 167%.
($1 = 9.5240 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Vera Dvorakova and Izabela Niemiec in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
