Lenskart sees tepid listing, shares decline 10% initially, then recover slightly to trade flat

The Lenskart Solutions IPO made a disappointing debut on the bourses today, with its shares being listed at ₹395 apiece on the NSE, down 1.75% from the issue price of ₹402; on the BSE the shares listed at ₹390, down 2.99% from the issue price. The shares saw a sharp plunge of 10% after the muted listing, but have made a slight recovery since then.

At the time of reporting, the shares of Lenskart were trading at ₹402.05 apiece, around its issue price.

The ₹7,278-crore IPO drew bids worth ₹1.13 lakh crore and was subscribed 28.27 times on the final day of bidding. Meanwhile, its grey market premium or GMP saw a 95% decline to ₹6.50 on November 9 from its peak of ₹120 on October 26.

The Lenskart IPO comprised a fresh issue of ₹2,150 crore and an offer for sale of ₹5,128 crore. At the upper end of the price band, the company is seeking a valuation of ₹69,726 crore. The portion reserved for QIBs was booked 40.36 times, followed by non-institutional investors and retail investors, whose quotas received 18.23x and 7.56x bidding, respectively. The employee quota received bids of nearly five times.

The company had reserved up to 75% of its shares for QIBs, 15% for NIIs, and the remaining 10% for retail investors, including employees. A discount of ₹19 per share was offered to employees.

The public issue, which opened for bidding on October 31, was subscribed 1.13 times on Day 1 and 2.02 times on Day 2. The momentum picked up sharply on the final day, driven by robust participation across all investor categories, culminating in a stellar 28 times overall subscription.

Of the ₹2,150 crore raised through the fresh issue, ₹272.6 crore will be used to establish around 620 new company-owned, company-operated (CoCo) stores across India by FY29, while ₹591.4 crore has been allocated towards lease deposits for its existing outlets.

The company also plans to deploy ₹213.4 crore to strengthen its technology and cloud infrastructure, with a focus on expanding AI-driven fulfillment systems and robotic lens manufacturing facilities. Additionally, ₹320 crore has been earmarked for brand marketing and business promotion activities.

Lenskart reported healthy growth in its profitability in 2024-25, with revenue rising from ₹3,788 crore in FY23 to ₹6,652 crore in FY25. Profit after tax (PAT) surged to ₹295.6 crore, climbing from a loss of ₹68 crore in FY23 and ₹17.5 crore in FY24. On the operating front, EBITDA jumped nearly four times from ₹263.8 crore in FY23 to ₹975.5 crore in FY25, while margins improved steadily from 7% in FY23 to 14.7% in FY25.