Calcutta, May 2: The days of fast buck from public issues may be over.

With five of the eight recent issues now trading below the offer price, a robust primary market and a quick gain from stock listings seem to be things of the past.

Although none of the forthcoming issues have been cancelled or deferred, experts feel that such possibilities cannot be ruled out if the market goes down further.

Prithvi Haldea of Prime Database, a company that tracks the Indian primary market (IPOs and public offers), said a stable secondary market was required for the primary market to flourish.

?If the sensex and nifty keep falling, the stream of primary issues may dry up,? Haldea told The Telegraph.

According to the data available from Prime Database, 25 companies, including big names like HT Media, Yes Bank, Syndicate Bank and Jindal Poly Films, have filed prospectus with Sebi and are awaiting approval. Together they are planning to mop up about Rs 1,851 crore.

After Sebi approves an issue, a company has to open the offer in the next 45 days.

In a falling market, companies planning to issue maiden offers are caught in a bind on timing as well as pricing.

?Some of the recent issues fared badly because they were priced too aggressively. Now prices will be more reasonable,? Haldea said.

Experts said investors have to be cautious in choosing the right public offer.

IPOs like Shringar Cinema, 3i Infotech, Jai Prakash Hydro Power fared badly in the market. Follow-on issues of Allahabad Bank and Punjab National Bank (PNB) are also trading way below the offer prices (see chart).

Some issues like Gokaldas Export and Gateway Distriparks, however, provided some respite to investors. The Gokaldas stock is now trading at Rs 623 compared with an offer price of Rs 425. Gateway is also trading at Rs 149, while its issue price was Rs 72.

However, returns are still minuscule compared with what India Bulls ? the scrip is now trading at Rs 109 compared with an offer price of Rs 19 ? had offered to investors. Even Bharati Shipyard and NDTV gave good returns.

?In a falling market, aggressively priced issues will fare badly. They might have offered good money in a bull market. This explains why returns are lukewarm at present, after the sensex lost nearly 800 points from the peak that it touched a couple of months back,? an analyst said.

With some poor listings, the level of enthusiasm for new issues go down, so do oversubscriptions.

Analysts prescribe caution for retail investors especially.