Sanford in demand

Shares in Perth online financial services provider Sanford Limited opened at a 40 cent premium on Tuesday before closing at $1.55 – five cents above the issue price with more than one million shares changing hands.

The initial public offering was open for only six hours on July 26, heavily oversubscribed, and successfully raised $9 million.

Sanford CEO Steven Goh said the hard copy prospectus was not even back from the printers by the time the firm had listed.

The prospectus was distributed electronically on both the Sanford and NOLT websites, as well as the Sanford and Count Wealth Accountants Virtual Broker sites.

“This is the 18th successful IPO we have distributed online – a track record that would exceed any other Australian online broker and many full-service brokers,” Mr Goh said.

Shareholders include the National Australia Bank and UBS Warburg Australia.