Hutchison Port Holdings IPO let down by its presentation
Hutchison's Port Holdings Trust's lacklustre debut on the Singapore Exchange yesterday may not have been wholly unconnected to US presentations that some say were distinctly average.
The initial public offering, the largest-ever on the Singapore Exchange, closed down 6 per cent. Truly, the IPO occurred at a difficult time with sentiment not at its best following the sell-off after events in Japan.
But one account of the presentations in America says institutional investors in the politically correct US were unimpressed by allusions to the IPO being like a pretty woman at a dance, or an older woman who had seen a plastic surgeon which was interspersed - to the audience's bemusement - by folksy references to fat and lean cow years.
Making a profit out of disaster
Natural disasters bring out both the best and worst in people. The Japanese earthquake has been no exception.