Sandoz valued at 10.3 bln francs on market debut
Shares dip following debut at 24 francs apiece
Fragile stock markets make for difficult backdrop

Oct 4 Reuters Sandoz shares dipped on their market debut on Wednesday after the generic and biosimilar drugmaker was valued at a lowerthanexpected 10.3 billion Swiss francs 11.2 billion in its spinoff from Swiss healthcare giant Novartis.

Analysts had published a wide range of higher valuation estimates. Deutsche Bank had said Sandoz, which accounted for 11 of Novartis39; group operating profit in 2022, would likely be valued at 1113 billion, while Berenberg had forecast 1726 billion.

Jefferies had seen a likely equity value of 12.316.2 billion.

The debut made Sandoz the largest new entrant to the Swiss stock exchange since 2019, when another Novartis spinoff, eyecare company Alcon, was valued at about 28 billion francs.

After a lacklustre several months, investors warmed to new listings in September with a slew of major market debuts in the United States and Europe that made for one of the busiest months since the start of 2022.

Among recent European share offerings, medical glass producer Schott Pharma debuted on the Frankfurt stock exchange last month, while German hydrogen firm ThyssenKrupp Nucera and Romanian energy producer Hidrolectrica went public in their home countries.

However, stock markets have generally been retreating over the past few weeks as bond yields surge on the prospect of persistently high…