Recently-listed stock to announce stock-split in just 8 sessions; shares zooms 32% in week

Just before a week of listing, shares of Waterways Leisure Tourism (Cordelia Cruise) are buzzing at Dalal Street after the company announced its first corporate action within five days after its stock market debut. In an exchange filing on Monday, July 06, the Cordelia Cruises operator said its board will consider a stock split at a meeting on Friday, July 10.

Waterways Leisure Tourism's shares, which were listed this Wednesday, on July 01, currently have a face value of Rs 10 each. By Friday, Waterways Leisure Tourism will have completed only eight trading sessions since listing on Wednesday, July 1, with four full trading days already behind it. 

A stock split is generally used to improve liquidity by reducing the share price and increasing the number of shares in circulation, while leaving the overall value unchanged after adjustment. In its first four full trading days, it hit the 10 per cent upper circuit twice. It had listed at a 17 per cent discount to its issue price and it is still below its IPO price of Rs 808, even rising 6 per cent on Tuesday.

To recall, Cordelia Cruise-parent's Rs 585 crore IPO was subscribed only 1.53 times over the three-day bidding period. Retail investors led the demand, with their portion subscribed 4.4 times. The qualified institutional vuyers portion was subscribed 72 per cent, while the non-institutional investors quota was subscribed 1.23 times. It also raised Rs 263.5 crore from anchor investors.

Waterways Leisure Tourism currently operates one cruise vessel, MV Empress, with 796 cabins. It has also entered into time charter agreements to lease two more vessels, 'Norwegian Sky' and 'Norwegian Sun', with capacities of 2,004 and 1,936 guests respectively. The former is to be introduced this year, while the latter is scheduled for financial year 2028. 

Promoter holding remains at 89 per cent after the IPO, leaving a smaller free float in the market of only 317 crore. The total market capitalization nearly Rs 5,800 crore. The stock is hit its high of Rs 819.75  on Monday, rising nearly 32 per cent from its post listing lows of Rs 623.30 on July 01.