China Life shares soar at start of HK debut
( 2003-12-18 16:23) (Agencies)
China Life, China's largest
life assurer, soared at the start of its market debut in Hong Kong on Thursday,
as the territory's exchange decided to proceed with trading despite errors in
published stock allocations for thousands of retail investors.
The error which appeared in newspaper advertisements on Wednesday mixed up
retail investors allocated 2,000 shares with those who received 3,000 shares.
The glitch affected between 10,000 and 20,000 investors, the company said. China
Life issued a statement clarifying the error, however market regulators were
vigilant for signs investors were trying to sell shares they do not own.
The shares opened in Hong Kong at HK$4.525, a premium of 24 per cent to the
initial public offering price of HK$3.59, and was the most actively traded stock
with volume of 333.2m. On Wednesday, China Life's American depository shares
jumped by more than one-third when trading started, to close up 27 per cent at
$23.72 on the New York Stock Exchange.
China Life raised $3.4bn, making it the biggest IPO of the year. The shares
on offer were more than 20 times subscribed.
"It is a barometer for 2004, and a sign of the demand that appears to be
growing for [Chinese] deals," said David Menlo of IPO Financial Network, the
research firm.
A handful of other Chinese companies have filed plans for big IPOs of their
own, including China Construction Bank, which might raise as much as $5bn,
Semiconductor Manufacturing International, which is looking for $1bn, and Ping
An Insurance, which could raise $2bn.
The China Life market debut comes a week after Ctrip, a small Chinese online
travel agency, enjoyed the biggest first-day share price jump in the US since
the days of the dotcom boom. Ctrip's stock rose more than threefold when it
opened and ended with a first day gain of nearly 90 per cent.
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