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SHARES in national motorbike dealership group Motorcycle Holdings (ASX:MTO) accelerated rapidly on their ASX trading debut this morning, hitting a high of $2.59.
The shares surged 30 per cent more than their $2 issue price, before retreating to hover around $2.50 by the midday session.
The Brisbane-based company, chaired by former Super Retail Group boss Bob Thorn, has 34 franchised dealerships across 24 locations in Queensland, NSW and the ACT.
The dealerships include major brands such as Harley Davidson, Honda, BMW, Triumph and Ducati.
The company says it is capitalising on strong growth of motorcycle ownership per capita in Australia.
In its prospectus, the company highlights that registered motorbike ownership has risen from 29 to 34 for every 1000 Australians between 2009 and 2015.
Motorcycle Holdings released 23.2 million shares to raise $46.3 million through the IPO which was launched in March.
Based on the latest share trades, the company is now valued at $95 million.
Part of the reason for the sale was to allow major shareholder, the private equity group Archer Capital, to sell down its holding in the company.
Archer retains a stake of about 10 per cent following the IPO and that holding is subject to escrow provisions.
Motorcycle Holdings is forecasting revenue of $212.8 million in FY16, up from $185.7 million in FY15.
The statutory net profit after tax is expected to be $4.4 million, up from $3.7 million the previous year.
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