Shares shot up to 1.42 million yen ($13,000) on bid only in the session, with no sellers to be seen, sharply up from the 700,000 yen initial public offering price. "It is attractive because it is the biggest satellite operator in Asia," said Daiwa Securities SB Capital Markets Co. Ltd. senior market analyst Kazunori Jinnai.

"Investors know it will grow quickly in the future. Buyers, including institutional investors, want to include JSAT in their portfolios," he told AFP. JSAT's take-off defied an overall fall on the stock market. The Tokyo Stock Exchange's key Nikkei-225 index dropped 147.08 points, or 1.0 per cent, to finish the day at 15,667.36.

"Investors considered JSAT a wise investment since the company has much potential for growth in the future," said Kazue Mayuzumi, senior market analyst at Nikko Securities. "But this buying alone failed to lift the Nikkei index since the company is not so well-known and it is really a mid-sized firm," Mayuzumi said.

Established in 1985, JSAT was capitalized at 43.3 billion yen and employed 200 people as of April 2000. Its operating revenue was 27.0 billion yen in the financial year to Mar 2000. JSAT operates eight satellites and distributes programs for the popular multichannel satellite television broadcaster here, SKY Perfect Comm Inc.