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T Saratoga Investama Sedaya received a lackluster response from investors during its debut on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) on Wednesday despite improved trading sentiment on the back of share price recovery in regional markets.

Saratoga'€™s shares, traded under the code SRTG, opened 3.64 percent lower than its initial public offering price (IPO) during the company'€™s first trading day on the exchange. Shares closed at Rp 4,550, 17.27 percent lower than its IPO price, making the company the worst performer among market debutants this year.

SRTG bucked the upward trend of most Indonesian stock prices. The Jakarta Composite Index rebounded 3.82 percent to close at 4,587.73 after losing for five consecutive days. The index has lost about 13 percent since it reached its peak level of 5,214.98 on May 20.

The JCI'€™s rebound was in line with increases in most global stocks, which mostly declined in the past few days over concern about the US central bank'€™s plan to reduce its stimulus programs and fears regarding China'€™s economic outlook. Analysts said that better economic figures revealed on Wednesday by the US and China'€™s central bank promised to prevent credit crunches contributed by a rebound in indices.

'€œThe JCI rebound is a result of positive sentiment from China. Some of our stocks are already too cheap so many investors purchased them. However, the risk remains high,'€ Fakhrul Fulvian, a research analyst with Panin Sekuritas, said.

Saratoga sold 271.29 million new shares, about 10 percent of its enlarged capital, at Rp 5,500 per share during its IPO last week, during which the company raised Rp 1.49 trillion. The company initially planned to sell its shares at a range of between Rp 6,100 and Rp 7,800 per share, but later made a cut due to unfavorable market conditions.

'€œWhen we launched the IPO, the market was volatile. Therefore, we adjusted the price,'€ said Moleonoto of Indo Premier Securities, which acted as one of three underwriters for the IPO.

He added that 90 percent of the company'€™s new share buyers during the IPO were foreign investors who mostly dumped their shares over the past several days.

President director Sandiaga Uno said that Saratoga remained positive about its long term outlook. '€œWe have lowered share prices ,however, investors seem to see far lower. We are lagging behind the index as investors might still be adjusting the net asset value in our investment,'€ Sandiaga said. '€œWe'€™re that what'€™s happening now is temporary. We built Saratoga during a crisis and we became as big as we are now because we believed in Indonesia'€™s long-term economy,'€ Sandiaga said after the listing of the shares.

Saratoga was founded by local tycoon Edwin Soeryadjaya '€“the son of Astra International founder William Soeryadjaya- and Sandiaga in 1998. The company now has investments in 18 companies, including coal miner PT Adaro Energy and telecommunications tower operator PT Tower Bersama Infrastructure.