Aluminum Bahrain’s (Alba) share price surged as much as 17 per cent to BD1.05 on its first day of trading on the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE) on 30 November.

Alba shares closed in positive territory at the close of trading at BD0.915, ahead of the BD0.900 fils price that investors paid.

The listing of Alba brings the number of Bahraini shareholding companies on the BSE to 49, of which five companies are non-Bahraini, with a market capitalisation of BD7.6bn ($20.1bn).

Alba raised $338m out of its targeted $541m after an initial public offering (IPO) of an 11.5 per cent stake priced at the bottom of the range.

The IPO, which was fully subscribed, was offered by Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and reduces its majority stake to 69.38 per cent from 77 per cent.   

Mumtalakat will invest proceeds from the IPO in international markets as part of its plan to diversify away from local investments.