MightyRiverPower shares dip below $2.50 offer price

Shares in MightyRiverPower, which the government partially privatised earlier this month, dipped below their $2.50 float price in afternoon trading, 10 days after listing on the stock exchange.

The shares traded as low as $2.48 before recovering to $2.50, with about 366,000, or 0.03 percent, of the company changing hands below the initial public offer price. The stock rose 4.8 percent on debut, and has shed those gains since the listing 10 days ago.

Last week Finance Minister Bill English announced Meridian Energy would follow MRP as the next partially privatised power company, with a float likely before the end of the year.

MRP is New Zealand’s second largest listed electricity company, after Contact Energy and displacing TrustPower, and is expected to be included in the NZX50, perhaps in July, once it has satisfied NZX rules requiring shares to trade and demonstrate their qualification for inclusion.