The attraction of Hong Kong stocks to Singapore-based investors appears to be waning fast.
In the first day of trading yesterday, shares in frozen seafood group Pacific Andes (Holdings) failed to reach the 57-US cent offer price.
At one time the stock was trading at 51 cents, 10 per cent below the issue level. It later recovered slightly to close at 53.5 cents.
The lacklustre start to its trading on the Stock Exchange of Singapore followed a weak response to the US$38 million initial public offering by the group, a spin off from the Hong Kong-quoted Pacific Andes International.
The stock offered to the public was fully taken up, with a modest 65 per cent oversubscription, but the tranche earmarked for institutional buyers was 14 per cent under-subscribed.
Concern about the reception to Hong Kong stocks listing in Singapore was sparked by the under-subscription this week for the Easyknit group. Its public offering was 70 per cent under-subscribed, although the institutional placing was fully taken up.
