Dow Jones Newswires: Rakuten Bank shares surge in Tokyo trading debut

United States

Rakuten Bank Ltd. shares surged on their first day of trading on Friday following a $ 667.5 million initial public offering.

The shares were recently at 1,936 yen, 38% higher than their IPO price of Y1,400. The shares opened at Y1,856.

The banking unit of Rakuten Group Inc. 4755, -2.33% is now listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market.

Rakuten Bank has said it hoped to expand its loan businesses and its products portfolio by bolstering its capital base.

The total value of 64.0 million shares offered, including 5.6 million newly issued shares, was Y89.60 billion ($ 667.5 million) based on the IPO price.

The bank’s earnings have steadily increased in recent years. Net profit rose 3.6% to Y20.04 billion as revenue grew 2.6% to Y106.03 billion for the fiscal year ended March 2022.