HKT Trust and HKT, the first business trust to list in Hong Kong, had a lacklustre debut yesterday amid concerns over the European debt crisis and tougher competition in the telecommunications sector.
The share stapled units of the telecommunications assets of PCCW, controlled by Richard Li Tzar-kai, closed at HK$4.55, against their issue price of HK$4.53.
Trading was subdued, with turnover at HK$501.99 million - 5.3 per cent of the HK$9.3 billion offering.
Uncertainty in global stock markets forced PCCW to price the trust's units at the low end of an indicative range of HK$4.53 to HK$5.38. That provides a yield of almost 9 per cent for next year, compared with near-zero interest rates and a dividend yield of about 3.9 per cent for blue chips on average.
Individual investors, however, seemed unmoved by the comparatively high yield; the grey market, a general gauge of popularity for new stocks, recorded no transactions a day before the trust officially trading began yesterday.
'After the events of 2008, this is the worst market we've seen for some years,' said Alex Arena, PCCW's group managing director.