ABHI Microfinance Bank has priced its initial public offering at Rs15.50 a share, raising Rs2.046 billion in one of the most closely watched listings on the Pakistan Stock Exchange this year. The final strike price was set at the close of two days of Dutch auction book building on Friday, 6 November, rising 3.33 per cent from the floor price of Rs15. Investors bid for 157.17 million shares against the 99 million on offer — an oversubscription of about 59 per cent — in a strong show of demand for Pakistan’s first fintech-led microfinance bank listing.
Book building draws bids worth more than Rs2.4 billion
In the first phase of the IPO, the bank sold 99 million shares at the strike price of Rs15.50 to corporate and institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals, mobilising Rs1.534 billion. Demand ran well past the shares on offer: bids came in for 157.17 million shares, worth more than Rs2.4 billion at the strike price, or roughly 159 per cent of the offer.
Under the book-building rules, the share price was allowed to rise by a maximum of 50 per cent from the floor price of Rs15, taking the upper limit to Rs22.50. In the end it settled only slightly above the floor, at Rs15.50 — a modest premium that still left the bank with a fully subscribed institutional tranche and a clear market price for the retail offer to follow. The company said the book build drew strong interest from foreign funds, local institutions and high-net-worth investors.
Retail investors get their turn on 12–13 November
The second phase of the ABHI IPO opens to the general public on 12 and 13 November. A further 33 million shares will be offered to retail investors at the same determined price of Rs15.50, raising another Rs511.5 million and taking the total IPO proceeds to Rs2.046 billion.
The retail portion is fully underwritten by Arif Habib Limited, Topline Securities Limited, Growth Securities (Private) Limited and Dawood Equities Limited. In total, the bank is selling 132 million ordinary shares through the IPO, representing 13.65 per cent of its post-IPO paid-up capital.
Where the IPO money will go
According to the prospectus, the gross proceeds will be used to strengthen the bank’s regulatory capital base and to continue growth in its loan portfolio. That capital injection matters because the bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at negative 6.26 per cent as of 30 June 2026, well below the State Bank of Pakistan’s minimum requirement of 15 per cent for microfinance banks.
The prospectus projects that the IPO proceeds, together with retained profits, will lift the capital adequacy ratio to 7.31 per cent by the end of calendar year 2026 and to 17.77 per cent by the end of calendar year 2027 — moving the bank above the central bank’s minimum during 2027.
The bank has been profitable in 2026. It reported a net profit of Rs1.501 billion for the first half of the year, and management estimates a profit of about Rs1.5 billion in the second half, taking the projected full-year profit to around Rs2.927 billion. ABHI (Private) Limited owns 73.73 per cent of the microfinance bank.
A busy year for new listings
ABHI arrives on the market in a year of brisk listing activity. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan approved 14 IPOs during fiscal year 2025–26, and nine offerings completed in the first half of 2026 raised more than Rs20 billion between them. The pipeline has continued into November, with ABHI’s offering among the largest of the season.
Investor participation is also widening. The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s investor base reached 681,965 at the end of October, up 47.3 per cent from 463,071 at the close of December 2025, as regulators simplified account opening and stepped up financial literacy efforts. The regulator’s wider market-development programme aims to lift the investor base to 2.5 million.
What to watch next
For small investors, the dates that matter now are 12 and 13 November, when the 33 million retail shares go on sale at Rs15.50. After that, attention will turn to the listing date and to how the share performs in its first days of trading — and, over the longer term, to whether the IPO proceeds deliver the capital turnaround the prospectus promises, taking the bank’s capital adequacy ratio above the central bank’s minimum during 2027.
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