Animal Healthcare shares rise on debut in fresh pastures
Shares of China Animal Healthcare, an animal drug manufacturer on the mainland, performed better than expected yesterday after the company transferred shares listed in Singapore to Hong Kong.
The stock opened strongly in the morning reaching HK$2.70, but gave up ground before closing at HK$2.36.
The closing price translates to about 46 Singapore cents, which meant it performed better than the company's Singapore-listed shares, said DMG & Partners Securities analyst Tan Han Meng. The company's Singapore stock closed yesterday at 37.5 Singapore cents.
'We expect some volatility in the first week,' said Tan. 'Some investors might want to take some short-term profits.'
Wang Yangang, the chairman and largest shareholder, who owns 53.08 per cent of the company's shares, said the Hong Kong listing would widen the investor base of the company and increase the liquidity of its shares.
Tan said he expects the company to have transferred about 50 per cent of its Singapore shares to Hong Kong, as Wang had said previously that he would transfer most of his shares.
Macquarie Capital Securities, with 29 per cent of the company, is the second-largest shareholder.
The company made 88 million yuan (HK$102.72 million) net profit in the first nine months of this year.
China Animal Healthcare was the mainland's largest manufacturer of powdered drugs for poultry and livestock last year, with about 3.3 per cent of the market.
Total revenue for the mainland's animal drug market has increased to about 27.5 billion yuan (HK$32 billion) from 15.3 billion over the past five years. The animal drug market will be worth about 44.7 billion yuan by 2014, according to an industry report. China Animal Healthcare has five production facilities - in Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Shenzhou, Jinzhong and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia.
