Nam Hing Holdings hits $1.44 in brisk first day of trading
NAM Hing Holdings led Contrad Holdings in their first day of trading yesterday, with both counters bucking the market's falling trend.
Nam Hing, a printed circuit and laminate manufacturer, closed near its intra-day peak at $1.40, up 40 per cent from its issue price of $1. The stock traded in a range of $1.44 to $1.21.
It was the fifth most active in trading volume with 37 million shares changing hands.
But the performance of Contrad, a distributor of two-way radio communications equipment, was more choppy, despite an increase of 27 per cent from its issue price of $1.08. The stock finished at $1.37, just a shade above its session lows of $1.36. It notched an intra-day high of $1.58.
A total of 35 million Contrad shares traded, making the counter the seventh most active in volume.
Nam Hing and Contrad were both well-received in their public offers in mid-January, as investors bet their money on stagging for quick profit.
Nam Hing's offer, which raised $62.6 million by selling 62.6 million shares, was oversubscribed 258 times. Meanwhile, Contrad lured an oversubscription of 214 times for its flotation, which raised $78.3 million.
Nam Hing plans to use the capital raised to set up production facilities on industrial sites in Bangkok, Dongguan and Zhongshan.
The move is to help the company capitalise on the growing demand for its products in China and Southeast Asia.
On completion of the production facilities on these sites and the installation of new production facilities in Yuen Long, the company's annual production capacity will amount to 3.2 million square metres of paper phenolic laminate, 1.92 million sq m of glass epoxy laminate and 600,000 sq m of printed, circuit boards (PCBs).
Contrad also used the proceeds for an expansion of manufacturing facilities in Beijing, and to establish an additional 11 services centres in major Chinese cities including Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Dalian, Changsha and Haikou.
The company has received approval to open 20 such centres and nine have been already opened. It plans to open more in other locations in the future.
Contrad will relocate its production to its own factory premises in Beijing in the first quarter of next year.
The company is currently operating from rented premises.
The construction of the Beijing plant is expected to begin this quarter.
