Australian billionaire Clive Palmer's Resourcehouse, chemical storage and distribution firm Dragon Crown Group and wind power company Huaneng Renewables have returned to the Hong Kong equity market, aiming to raise a combined HK$35.9 billion.

But brokers said demand for margin financing orders for these new initial public offerings has been weak, mostly because these companies had shelved their plans to sell shares last year, leaving a negative impression on investors.

'Retail investors get into IPOs these days to speculate,' said Alvin Cheung, an associate director with Prudential Brokerage. 'They want to see a good performance quickly and prefer smaller offerings. These companies withdrew their listing plans last year and for that, some investors would think twice.'

Resourcehouse's fundamentals do little to set investors' pulses racing. There is a discouraging 30-page plus 'Risk Factors' section in the prospectus, which includes the possibility of not being able to develop its mining business as planned, plus the caveat that the company will not make any money until 2014.

Neither does the offering of Huaneng Renewables, whose profits are expected to be slashed as a result of failing to list last year.

Broker Phillip Securities said that, as of yesterday, margin financing orders for Resourcehouse amounted to a mere HK$2.7 million and just HK$1.2 million for Huaneng. Dragon Crown has done better with HK$54 million. That fades in comparison with the HK$4.9 billion orders it received for handbag trader Milan Station, the most popular IPO this year in terms of retail subscription, according to Phillip Securities.

Looking ahead, the focus from retail investors will be on US-based luggage maker Samsonite and Italian fashion house Prada, according to Cheung. They will start marketing their shares in the coming weeks.

$28b

This is the amount, in Hong Kong dollars, Resourcehouse is looking for in its listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange