Imperva IPO opens high

The debut of Imperva onto the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday led to strong trading gains for the maker of software protection against hackers and data theft. On a day which saw Dow stocks decline by more than three percent, the initial public offering of the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company saw a 33 percent gain over its $18 a share opening, closing at $24 a share. Five million shares were traded, which resulted in the raising of around $90 million. Imperva, founded in 2002, has never been profitable. However, the company experienced a 72 percent jump in revenue between 2008 and 2010, and sales continued spurting this year. According to a company prospectus, in the nine months ended Sept. 30, net revenue rose 43 percent to $55 million compared to the same period of 2010. Imperva's principal R&D facilities are based in Israel.