New | Citic Securities in Hong Kong drop 4 per cent after share placement

Shares of Citic Securities dropped 4 per cent in Hong Kong after the mainland Chinese brokerage firm priced new shares at a steep discount to the National Social Security Fund.

The Beijing-based broker had intended to take advantage of the stock rally after its Hong Kong traded shares rose 80 per cent in the past year.

Citic Securities shares declined by almost 6 per cent at one stage, before closing down 4.4 per cent by the midday break at HK$30.25.

In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday, the company said it raised HK$11.52 billion by selling 640 million new H shares to the country’s social security fund at HK$18, a 43 per cent discount to Monday’s closing price of 31.65.

Shanghai-traded shares in Citic Securities gave up another 1.4 per cent by the midday trading to finish at 33.01 yuan, after the mainland traded shares had a two-fold jump in the past year.

Elsewhere, performance of blue-chip stocks was tepid, with CK Hutchison delivering a 52-week low after UBS analysts slashed the target price on the stock from HK$178.52 and HK$135, even though their earnings forecast remains unchanged.