Bright welcome for Philips Lighting share sale

Investors happily switched into Philips's lighting division shares at their Amsterdam debut Friday, over a century after the Dutch electronics giant sold its first light bulb.

Strong demand ensured that shares in the highly-anticipated listing of a quarter of the lighting unit's equity rose well above their initial flotation price of 20 euros ($22.30), the stock exchange said.

From an opening level of 21 euros, Philips Lighting's share price went on to climb to a high of 21.77 euros in morning trade.

It ended the day at 22 euros, up 10 percent.

"Today with the listing of Philips Lighting as a standalone company on Euronext Amsterdam, we begin a new chapter in the long history that started... 125 years ago," Philips Lighting chief executive Eric Rondolat said in a statement.

"We are truly excited to welcome Philips Lighting, a strong and innovative brand with a rich heritage in lighting industry," added Maurice van Tilburg, Euronext Amsterdam's chief executive.

Philips late on Thursday announced it would list a quarter of its lighting arm's shares at 20 euros each, expecting to rake in 750 million euros in the historic IPO, after failing to find an outright buyer over the last 18 months.

- Good share price? -

"The share price seems to have satisfied those who are interested... but it's difficult to say whether it's a good price over the long term," Joost van Beek, an analyst at Theodoor Gilissen private bank, told AFP.

Philips announced in September 2014 that it was selling off its core lighting business -- a mainstay of its income for more than a century -- to focus more on medical equipment.

Philips Lighting is valued at a total of around three billion euros.

It said it was making the move into medical technology where margins are strong and less vulnerable to competition from emerging markets.

Earlier this month Philips, a household name around the world for its home appliances, however acknowledged its lighting arm would still carry up to 4.9 billion euros in debt.

Tom Muller, an independent analyst in Amsterdam, said the sale would boost Philips' plans to widen its health care products.

"It's a good chance for them" to invest the money into perhaps buying another company in the health care industry, Muller told AFP.

Philips sold its first light bulb a few years after it was founded in 1891, but for the past dozen years has increasingly shifted its focus to medical equipment, which now accounts for more than 40 percent of sales.

But its lighting business, which produces LED lights, halogen and fluorescent lamps and other electronic components, remains a major money-spinner, selling products in around 180 countries.

Last year Philips Lighting raked in 547 million euros in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation, the company said.

It has manufacturing plants in more than 20 countries and holds a patent portfolio of over 14,000 patent rights.

Elsewhere, in a what turned out to be a glowing day for European IPOs, French homeware designer Maisons du Monde also saw solid demand for its initial listing on the Paris stock exchange.

From an opening price of 17 euros, the shares quickly rose to 18.3 euros and closed the day 5.9 percent higher at 18.00 euros.

Maisons du Monde's market capitalisation is 769 million euros on the basis of the IPO price, Euronext said in a separate statement.