Singapore's state-owned investment firm, Temasek Holdings, is celebrating a string of successes in India, with three companies from its portfolio surging more than 30% in share price following their stock market debuts this week.
On Wednesday, logistics company Shiprocket went public, opening at a 35% premium and closing at 143 rupees ($1.50), nearly 50% above its IPO price. The offering was heavily oversubscribed, with demand reaching close to 100 times the shares available, driven by strong interest from both institutional and retail investors.
Dairy company Milky Mist listed on Tuesday, and by Wednesday its shares were trading 40% higher than the offer price. Temasek holds a stake of more than 5% in both of these companies.
Meanwhile, Molbio Diagnostics, which went public on Monday, remains 26% above its IPO price even after a pullback on Wednesday. Data from the Bombay Stock Exchange shows Temasek owns an 8.74% stake in the diagnostic firm. Earlier this month, Manipal Health, a hospital chain in India also backed by Temasek, listed with shares trading 25% above their issue price.
A spokesperson for Temasek stated, "On a 10-year basis, India is our best-performing market." The sovereign wealth fund noted it has invested nearly $9 billion in India over the past three years. "In the last financial year, we were a net buyer of listed Indian equities, taking advantage of market volatility to selectively add to positions where we have high conviction."
Temasek's optimistic stance on India stands in sharp contrast to other foreign investors, according to data from the National Securities Depository Limited. Last year, foreign investors offloaded nearly $19 billion in Indian stocks, and they have continued to be net sellers for most of this year, with outflows reaching $24.7 billion as of August 19.
A fund manager survey released by BofA Global Research on Tuesday showed India as the least preferred market in Asia. Managers cited a lack of artificial intelligence-related investment opportunities, sluggish growth, slow reform progress, and elevated valuations as key reasons for their underweight positions.
Nitin Jain, CEO and Director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Singapore, remarked that the survey serves as "a clear wake-up call for Indian policymakers, signaling that India's global investment appeal has dropped to a low point." He noted, however, that current foreign fund flows into India have improved compared to three months ago, suggesting a better picture for debt and equity inflows in recent months.
Temasek maintains a positive long-term view on India's structural growth, citing the large domestic consumer market, a rising middle class, economic formalization, infrastructure development, and deepening capital markets as key supportive factors.
The spokesperson said Temasek is investing in consumer, financial services, and healthcare companies aligned with these themes, while also seeing "increasing growth potential" in industrial, infrastructure, and renewable energy sectors.
The Singapore-based fund disclosed that its total exposure to India stands at $42 billion, having "quadrupled in size over the past decade."