Porsche shares climb on debut as sports car maker defies grim market

Porsche shares climbed on their debut in Frankfurt, as the German carmaker defied a global economic slowdown and febrile markets to pull off one of Europe’s largest-ever initial public offerings.

The €75bn listing marks a rare bright spot for an IPO market hit by the end of the bull run in equities and an energy crisis in Europe.

Shares in Porsche, which is majority owned by Volkswagen, were up 1.8 per cent in early trading in Frankfurt on Thursday. The Stuttgart-based company sold the shares on Wednesday at €82.5, the top of the range it had set out to investors.

VW is listing a 12.5 per cent stake in Porsche, its most profitable brand, as it seeks to raise funds to help pay for its investment in electric vehicles. Some of the €9.4bn that VW raised from the stake sale will be paid out to its shareholders as a special dividend.

“The high level of demand demonstrates investors’ confidence in Porsche’s future,” said VW’s chief financial officer Arno Antlitz. “The proceeds from the IPO will give Volkswagen significantly more financial flexibility as part of its transformation toward electromobility and digitisation.”

About 150 auto executives, bankers and advisers gathered at the historic stock exchange building in Frankfurt to celebrate one of the few major listings since the start of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.