Cookpad Inc., Japan's largest recipe Web site, surged on its first day of trading Friday as investors snapped up shares of a company that is capitalizing on a shift in consumption habits amid the recession.
The shares were bid at ¥14,300 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers market for new listings. That compared with an initial public offering price of ¥9,500, which was the top of the range set in the book-building process. It was the nation's 12th IPO this year.
"The company's analyst briefing was packed to the rafters," said Kyomi Ando, an IPO strategist at KBC Securities Japan. "Investments in network systems are one-time, meaning costs aren't much of a burden. We can expect this company to grow."
Cookpad is benefiting from a trend in which consumers are saving money by shunning restaurants for home-cooked meals.
In the six months through May, spending on dining out and accommodation fell from levels a year ago by between 1.1 percent and 7.2 percent, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's report on the tertiary industry.
The company expects to earn ¥355 million for the year ending April 30 on ¥1.81 billion in revenues. Most profits are generated through the marketing business, which includes tieups with food producers. Earnings are also created through membership fees and advertising.
The site, which is most popular among women in their 20s and 30s, logged 6.8 million unique visitors in May, according to Jun Narimatsu, an executive for the company.
"The next growth area for the company will be among mobile phone users for whom paying the monthly fee is a very simple process," Narimatsu said in an interview last month. "We expect growth in this area to be substantial, and once people sign up few quit."