Three mainboard listing debutants saw their shares trade flat yesterday, while a fourth, Qualipak International, saw a dismal 10.7 per cent drop on its first day.
Shanghai-based car dealer China Yongda Automobiles Services closed at HK$6.62 after trading 2.3 per cent lower than the issue price of HK$6.60 in intraday trading.
The car dealer and one of its minority shareholders had sold 253.54 million shares to raise HK$1.67 billion after it halved the size of the offering amid bearish market conditions. Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal, a large miner based in the north of the mainland, closed at HK$43, flat from the issue price, after falling as much as 4.4 per cent in intraday trading. It had raised HK$7 billion by selling 162.67 million shares.
Shandong-based fabric maker Silverman ended the day at HK$1.10, also flat from the issue price.
'Their performances are actually quite good, considering the Hang Seng Index fell 2 per cent on the day,' AMTD Financial Planning general manager Kenny Tang Sing-hing said.
'But this has more to do with the fact that most of the initial public offering shares are taken up by institutional investors, who tend to be long-term investors, while short-term retail investors are largely staying away from the market.'