Anemic stock debut for BOC (HK)
( 2002-07-26 10:00) (1)
Shares of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) began trading on Thursday and suffered a drop of 4.7 per cent from the offering price amid concerns over recent market turmoils.
But the chairman of the second largest bank in Hong Kong by assets remained upbeat about the shares' future performance.
"I'm confident in the performance of our shares in the long run," said Liu Mingkang - also chairman of the parent Bank of China (BOC) - on the sidelines of the listing ceremony.
Liu attributed the poor trading debut to the fluctuations on Wall Street.
Shares of BOC Hong Kong fell 4.7 per cent from its offering price of HK$8.5 (US$1.09) to close at HK$8.1 (US$1.03) amid fragile market sentiment.
BOC raised about US$2.8 billion by selling a roughly 25 per cent interest in its Hong Kong flagship in the initial public offering, the world's third-largest and Asia's largest this year.
The offering was well-received by the market as the shares were 7.4 times over-subscribed by institutional investors and 25 times over-subscribed by retail investors in Hong Kong.
"I thought BOC Hong Kong's shares were very attractive, but current market conditions are really bad," said Louis Tsoi, a fund manager with Tai Fook Securities Co Ltd.
"But in the long term I believe the stock is good given the quality of the bank," Tsoi said.
Hong Kong's stock benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 0.87 per cent on Thursday at 9,884.78, giving up a 1.9 per cent early surge following the overnight re-bound on Wall Street.
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