Kogan closes above ipo price

AFR post 

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One year and four days after debuting on the ASX boards, shares in online retailer Kogan.com Ltd have finally closed above their initial public offering price. 

And the catalyst?

Kogan.com founder Ruslan Kogan started the company in his parent's garage in Melbourne in 2006. Photo: Brook Mitchell

Kogan's expansion into all sorts of utility services, from its fastest growing business unit Kogan Mobile to the recently announced fixed-line NBN services and broadband deals with Vodafone. 

Investors reckon Kogan founder Ruslan Kogan has a few more of these sorts of deals up his sleeve, with the most logical path to shift into Australian energy retailing. 

Performance of Kogan.com shares since listing, versus the all ordinaries, online retail index and retail index, according to S&P Capital IQ.  

It's all about capitalising on the company's customer base, and using its brand to drive revenue. 

It's one small cap fundies will be watching heading into reporting season. 

Kogan listed at $1.80 a share via Canaccord Genuity this time last year, and had never traded above that mark until Monday. 

To be fair, it is one of the few retailers to hold its ground over the past year, as investors react to soft consumer conditions in Australia and fears about Amazon's impending push into the country. 

The company's shares are also lightly traded with CEO Ruslan Kogan and executive director David Shafer holding a 69.4 per cent stake between them. 

Half of their shares come out of escrow at the upcoming full-year results, with the remainder scheduled for release next year.

However, fundies expect they'll be reluctant to let too much of the stock go.