Shares of gold lender Muthoot Finance list at 12 per cent premium

Shares of India's largest specialist gold lender Muthoot Finance Ltd listed At Rs 196.60 on the NSE , a premium of 12.34 percent to its issue price.

The company, which raised Rs 9 billion by selling 51.5 million shares through the initial public offering, set its issue price at the upper end of its Rs 160-175 price band.

At 10:35 a.m., the shares were trading at Rs 177.40, a marginal premium to the issue price.

In all eleven anchor investors including Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority , Goldman Sachs India Fund and Baring India Private Equity Fund invested Rs 1.3 billion in the company.

ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co were the book running lead managers to the issue while HDFC Bank was the co-manager.

The rising prices of gold makes the company's core business stronger, Managing Director George Alexander Muthoot said.

"Borrowing powers of gold owners rise with the prices and this would prove beneficial for us going forward."

Commenting about the interest rates for gold loans, Muthoot said "RBI (India's central bank) has given the direction...hence we will have to take a decision on raising interest rates soon".

The company has a network of about 3,000 branches of which about 60 percent are based in southern India.