China Coal rises 12.6pc on first day
Miner fails to meet hopes amid investor caution over listings
Shares of China Coal Energy rose 12.59 per cent on their Hong Kong debut yesterday, less than the 22 per cent gain recorded in the grey market on Monday, as investors showed caution in the wake of recent first-day surges by new stock listings.
Shares in the mainland's second-largest coal miner traded within a narrow range between HK$4.40 and HK$4.60 yesterday.
The stock closed at HK$4.56, compared with its offer price of HK$4.05, with HK$6.22 billion worth of shares changing hands.
The closing price was much lower than the market had expected. Investors had placed advance orders to buy China Coal's shares from as low as HK$4.93 to as high as HK$5.50 in the grey market on Monday, according to Phillip Securities' pre-initial public offering electronic trading platform.
'I had already told my clients that they should cool their heads and not snap up China Coal's shares in the grey market as most of the recent IPOs have been losing their upward momentum,' said Stephen Tse, a corporate finance officer at Phillip Securities.
Shares of all recent initial public offerings, except bathroom electrical-appliance maker Aupu Group Holding and lingerie maker Embry Holdings, have declined after making strong first-day gains.
Given the slackening performances of recently listed companies after strong initial gains, Mr Tse said investors had learned a lesson and avoided snapping up China Coal's shares on their first trading day.
The closing price 'shows that investors are smart', said Auyeung Tat, a fund manager at Apex Capital. 'They've become more rational than before.'
Mr Auyeung also blamed China Coal's poorer than expected debut on the 1.19 per cent drop in the broader market as Hong Kong and other Asian markets reacted to events in Thailand.
The benchmark stock index in Bangkok dropped 14.84 per cent after the country's central bank acted to restrict speculative inflows that have pushed the country's currency to nine-year highs.
Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric, one of the mainland's largest train-borne electrical system providers, will start trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange today.
The company raised about HK$1.91 billion by offering 360.56 million H shares at HK$5.30 each. This translates to 20 times this year's forecast earnings.
Shares of Zhuzhou CSR soared 38 per cent to HK$7.32 from the offer price of HK$5.30 in the grey market, according to Phillip Securities' trading platform.
Retail investors placed subscription orders for 205 times the number of shares available to them, leading Zhuzhou CSR to increase the retail portion to 50 per cent from 10 per cent of the total offering, the company said.
