New India Assurance, the largest general insurance company in India, opened its IPO issue from November 1 to November 3 at a price band of Rs. 770-790. The scrip made a tepid debut on the bourses today listing at a discount of over 6% at Rs. 748.9 on the BSE over the issue price of Rs. 800.

Overall the issue sized Rs. 9600 crore received a subscription of 1.19 times with subscription to the extent of 2.34 times by qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), non-institutional investors (NIIs) 12% and retail investors 11%.

The analysts were concerned about the company's valuations given the low return on equity as well as operating losses. Though company enjoys a leadership position in all of the product categories and also has the lowest expense ratio in comparison to peers in the industry.The solvency ratio for the company also stands strong against the regulator's benchmark of 1.5

The company's distribution network in India comprises bancassurance arrangement with banks and a network of over 68000 agents.

At 11:57 am, the stock lost further momentum and was seen trading at Rs. 735.5 on the BSE, a decline of 8.06% to the issue price.

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