Gemplus makes a sparkling debut

French smartcard company Gemplus enjoyed a successful first day trading on the Paris Bourse closing 25 per cent above the opening price.

Gemplus had originally set an opening price of E6 (£3.60) but within 15 minutes of trading the share price gained 16 per cent. By lunchtime the company was trading at E7.11 (£4.28). The growth continued throughout the afternoon and the company closed first day of trading at E7.50 (£4.50). The share price had been downgraded from previous predictions of E7 (£4.21) to E6 (£3.63) and the IPO delayed by two days as a result of poor market conditions.