Shares in FDC Consolidated Holdings (ASX: FDC) closed at $3.48 on Friday, up 16 per cent on the $3.00 investors paid when the construction and fitout company listed on the ASX three days earlier. Thursday's debut was the biggest Australian float of 2026 so far, and the stock has held nearly all of its opening gains since.
Trading opened at 12.30pm on debut day, and the stock touched $3.50, a 17 per cent gain, in its first minute on the boards. It gave back some of that spike before the close, finishing Thursday at $3.37, up 12.3 per cent on the $3.00 offer price. The gap between that intraday spike and the closing print explains the different figures, some as high as 17 per cent and some closer to 12, that circulated in the day's coverage. Friday's session pushed it higher again.
The IPO raised $400 million at $3.00 a share, valuing FDC at $969 million on debut. The float covered about 40 per cent of the company, roughly 133 million shares; existing owners retained the rest, much of it under escrow. UBS and MA Moelis ran the deal as joint lead managers, with Allens, Deloitte and KPMG also advising.
FDC has been building since 1990 and now employs more than 720 people across Australia, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra. Its work spans new builds through to fitouts and refurbishments across offices, hospitals, schools and data centres, with clients on the data centre side including NEXTDC and Digital Realty.
Revenue was $1.5 billion in FY25, with profit before tax of $112 million, and the company is forecasting revenue of about $1.9 billion and EBIT of roughly $100 million by FY27. That is revenue growth of close to 27 per cent over two years. It had $2.4 billion of work in hand as at 30 April, the pipeline chief executive Russell Grady pointed to on debut day. "With $2.4 billion of Work in Hand and a diverse pipeline across the country, we begin life as a listed company from a position of strength," Grady said.
Founder and chairman Ben Cottle framed the listing as recognition of the people who built the business, not a change in direction. "This business was made by us, our people, our clients, our partners and our subcontractors," he said. "Now it's made public."
FDC's early strength stands out against a rough year for ASX floats. The exchange has recorded roughly 20 new listings in 2026, and many of them are trading below their issue price; several planned floats have been shelved or downsized altogether as investors stayed cautious on new stock. Three trading days in, FDC is not one of them.
