IPO Watch: 3 IPOs have sparked the week, but health and tech stocks still outperform

Two consecutive days of IPO action have sparked the ASX this week, adding three new stocks to the fast-growing list of IPOs in 2021 and bringing the tally to 30.

On Tuesday, the ASX welcomed a new biotech on the block, Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX:ILA). The pharmaceutical company is focusing on mosquito diseases, particularly dengue fever. The IPO raised $7.5 million at 25c a share, which doubled to 52c by the close of day.

Then on Wednesday, two more stocks made their successful debut on the ASX.

Mining company Iceni Gold (ASX:ICN) raised $20 milion and floated at 20c a share. The WA-based explorer has assets located in the Leonora Gold Province. Iceni’s share price rose by 50 per cent to 30c by close of trading on Wednesday.

Fintech company Propell (ASX:PHL) also had a good first day at the office on Wednesday, with its share price climbing by 40 per cent. The fintech helps SMEs manage their cashflows with credit and invoince payment solutions, and has raised $5 million in the IPO at 23c.

Resource companies make up the bulk of the listings with 13, with Firebird Metal (ASX:FRB) being the standout performer in the sector. The manganese explorer floated at 20c after a heavily over-subscribed $5.5 million IPO in March. The shares are now trading hands at 56c, a handsome gain of 180 per cent for early investors.

But not all resource plays have done well. African-based iron ore producer Genmin (ASX:GEN) has not impressed investors since floating its shares for 34c in early March, and is currently languishing at 24c, the worst performer in the sector.

Health-related IPOs have however, done particularly well.

Medtech Singular Health (ASX:SHG) has been flying high, with its share price rising from the IPO price of 20c to trade at 47c yesterday. Investors have been flocking to the stock since late March, when it announced that its partnership with CSIRO had produced an AI model capable of automatically segmenting spinal vertebrae from CT scans.

Market favourite, Airtasker (ASX:ART), meanwhile, has not shown signs of slowing down, with the share price almost doubling from the IPO price of 65c to trade today at at $1.29.

But the biggest winner of them all has been Pentanet (ASX:5GG), which almost quadrupled since its 25c IPO in February. The WA-based company describes itself as Perth’s largest fixed-wireless network service, but has since expanded into cloud-based game streaming service, launching GeForce NOW in Australia.

Notable upcoming listings

Games developer Mighty Kingdom (ASX:MKL) is set to hit the ASX later next week at $42 million market cap, after raising $18 million at 30c a share.  The company has worked with the likes of Sony and Lego to develop a variety of mobile games.

Recuitment tech company Hiremii (ASX:HMI) will also be an interesting addition to the ASX bourse. The company uses AI technology, which will differentiate its offering from competitors.