4TH LD: Inpex proves popular on TSE debut.

TOKYO, Nov. 17 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING CLOSING QUOTE, ANALYST'S COMMENTS IN 1-5 GRAFS)

Inpex Corp., a government-affiliated oil exploration company, proved popular on its debut Wednesday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's First Section, with its stock ending the day at 549,000 yen per share, 18.1 percent higher than its initial public offering price of 465,000 yen.

In line with the listing, the state-run Japan National Oil Corp. which holds a 53.96 percent stake in Inpex put up for sale 343,725 shares, or 17.9 percent of Inpex's 1.92 million outstanding shares, according to Inpex and JNOC.

The stock of Inpex rose as high as 587,000 yen in the morning after fetching an initial quote of 576,000 yen at 9:45 a.m., 23.9 percent higher than the IPO price. It was the day's most heavily traded issue by value.

''Inpex proved popular as assessment of the company was already high among overseas investors, because its businesses are expanding internationally and its market capitalization is very large,'' said Tsuyoshi Segawa, equity strategist at Shinko Securities Co.

A strong debut Monday by chip maker Elpida Memory Inc. and high crude oil prices also made investors feel comfortable about snapping up Inpex shares, Segawa added.

Inpex is the second of JNOC's subsidiaries to go public, following Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., which made its debut on the TSE's First Section in December last year.

The listing of Inpex is part of the asset sell-off program of the heavily indebted JNOC, which is slated to be dismantled at the end of next March. Funds raised on the stock sales will be used to make up for losses incurred by JNOC.

The IPO of Inpex, worth about 160 billion yen, was the third largest this year, following those of Electric Power Development Co. and Shinsei Bank.

Inpex was established in February 1966 as part of a program to secure a stable supply of oil and natural gas for Japan. It has succeeded in developing a large-scale gas field in Indonesia, which is one of the company's main revenue sources along with one in Australia.

It also possesses oil exploration rights in the Middle East, the Caspian Sea and South America.

Amid concerns about energy supplies due to the recent surge in crude oil prices, Inpex is expected to play a pivotal role as a resource development company in Japan.

Apart from the common shares to be traded on the TSE, Inpex is to allocate special-class shares to JNOC to prevent foreign businesses from gaining a controlling stake.

Also Wednesday, Inpex reported a group net profit of 34.78 billion yen for fiscal 2003, which ended March 31, up 24.6 percent from the previous year, and a pretax profit of 94.77 billion yen, up 35.3 percent, on an 8.6 percent rise in operating revenue to 218.83 billion yen.