The three-day IPO saw varied response across investor categories.
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National Securities Depository Limited’s initial public offer (IPO) closed the first day of trading with strong investor interest, achieving 1.78 times subscription by 5pm on July 30, 2025.
The issue, priced between ₹760-800 per share, raised ₹1,201.44 crore from 61 anchor investors at the upper price band.
The three-day IPO, which runs until August 1, saw varied response across investor categories. Non-institutional investors showed the highest enthusiasm with 2.83 times subscription, followed by retail individual investors at 1.87 times.
The employee reserved portion was subscribed 3.68 times, while qualified institutional buyers remained cautious at 0.84 times subscription. QIBs typically become more active on the final day of IPO subscriptions.
“NSDL’s dominant position in securities custody, servicing 99.99 per cent of dematerialised holdings by foreign portfolio investors, makes it an attractive investment proposition,” according to research reports.
The company managed ₹70,167.65 billion in assets for individuals and HUFs as of FY25, capturing 67.90 per cent of that market segment.
The IPO comes at a time when India’s depository market has grown at 27.4 per cent CAGR from FY17-FY25. Market analysts expect continued growth at 11-12 per cent CAGR over FY25-FY27, driven by retail investor interest and digitisation.
Scale advantage
NSDL’s scale advantage over its listed competitor CDSL is significant. “NSDL holds securities worth ₹464 trillion, nearly 6.5 times that of CDSL’s ₹71 trillion,” noted Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst at Bonanza.
The company also dominates institutional accounts with over 10.47 lakh non-retail investor accounts compared to CDSL’s 2.17 lakh.
The company’s financial performance has been robust, with revenue, EBITDA and PAT growing at CAGRs of 17.9 per cent, 21.2 per cent and 20.9 per cent respectively over FY23-25.
However, NSDL’s payment bank business, which contributes 51 per cent of revenues in FY25, operates with lower margins than other business segments.
At the upper price band of ₹800, NSDL’s FY25 P/E ratio of 47x appears reasonable compared to peers.
“Considering its dominant share in assets under custody, rapid growth in financials, stable revenue stream, healthy return ratios and focus on digital infrastructure expansions ahead, we assign a ‘Subscribe’ rating with a long-term investment perspective,” according to Geojit Investments Ltd research analysts.
The issue size comprises 3,51,27,002 shares with a minimum bid quantity of 18 shares per lot.
Published on July 30, 2025
