Shares of Edita Food Industries (Edita) closed 16% higher on Thursday, reaching EGP 21.5 on its first trading day after its initial public offering (IPO) on Egypt’s bourse. 

The stock surged during Thursday’s session amid active trades exceeding 12.6 million shares, with value totaling more than EGP 271.4 million sealed through 1,800 transactions.

The snack food producer started trading on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) at EGP 18.50, in conjunction with the start of trading of its global depository receipts (GDRs) at $12.28 on the London Stock Exchange (LSD).

The market capitalisation of the company is EGP 6.7 billion ($ 891 million), with a free float of 30% between the LSD and EGX.

The institutional offering was 13.4 times oversubscribed, having generated EGP 22.84 million ($3.03 million) in demand. In the retail tranche, the company generated EGP 1.37 million ($181 million) in interest, an oversubscription rate of 4.52 times.

Edita holds the number one market position in Egypt in its core cake and croissant segments, a number two market position in rusks and growing market positions in the wafers and candy segments.

In 2014, Edita recorded revenues of EGP 1.91 billion, EBITDA of EGP 463.1 million (24.1% margin) and reported a net profit of EGP 265.9 million.