High energy prices are still fueling investor interest in energy company initial public offerings.
The big reputation of Bill Barrett, 76, helped the IPO of Bill Barrett Corp. (NYSE:BBG) -- a natural gas exploration company in the Rocky Mountain region. Bill Barrett is the founder of Barrett Resources, a successful gas company that was purchased by Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) after a long bidding war with Royal Dutch (NYSE:RD)/Shell (NYSE:SC) in 2001.
The IPO shares were priced at $25, above the expected $20-to-$23-a-share range. That strength carried over into initial trading today, with the stock hitting $29.45 -- up 18% from the IPO price. With Bill Barrett Corp.'s $300 million in hand and a promising portfolio of drilling opportunities, the outlook is encouraging. But with a market capitalization now exceeding $1 billion and yearly sales of just $75 million, the company has to continue its strong growth to justify the stock price.
The largest energy IPO of the week was Foundation Coal Holdings (NYSE:FCL). Initially priced at $17 to $19 a share, then raised to $19 to $21, the initial shares went for $22 -- raising almost $520 million. Foundation Coal, the fourth-largest U.S. coal company, produced 67.2 million tons of coal in 2003 and has 1.8 billion tons of proven reserves. Although the company made $32.5 million in 2003 on sales of $993.7 million, it lost money in the first six months of 2004.
The offering is interesting because the bulk of the proceeds will be used to pay pre-public shareholders a $394 million dividend. That still leaves the company with plenty of money to reduce debt and for other corporate purposes.
The stock initially took off, trading as high as $23.45 a share. It has settled back and now trades at the IPO price.
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Fool contributor W.D. Crotty does not own stock in any of the companies mentioned.
