IPO hit defies Internet blues

E.Biscom, an Italian Internet company, leaped 39% on its first day of trading, defying the recent trend for high-profile web stocks to flop on IPO.

The closing price of €222, up €62 from its issue price, gives E.Biscom a market value in excess of €10 billion. Its strong showing should give heart to other Internet firms preparing to IPO, who have viewed with alarm the recent dip in hi-tech stocks across European exchanges.

Yesterday, Frankfurt’s Neuer Markt fell 7.3 per cent, while the Techmark index in London shed 6.6 per cent – 23.5% down on its all-time high. T-Online, the Internet service provider (ISP) owned by German giant Deutsche Telekom, announced it would cut its offer price for next month’s flotation in response to the slide.

While some investors reckon the successful float of the Italian firm will improve the immediate IPO prospects for other European start-ups, the Italian internet company itself puts the strong performance down to the fact it is not only an Internet company.

E.Biscom is installing a fiber-optic network through which it plans to push voice, Internet and video content in the Milan region.