Braised duck chain Zhou Hei Ya gets off to a flying start on Hong Kong shares debut
The Chinese fast food retailer climbed more than 10 per cent in morning trade after raising HK$2.37 billion in IPO
Zhou Hei Ya International, a Chinese fast-food chain famous for its spicy braised duck, jumped as much as 10.37 per cent on its first morning of trading in Hong Kong today.
That makes it one of a mere handful of recent initial public offerings in the city not to have got off to a sluggish start. Zhou Hei Ya is the largest food company to go public in Hong Kong so far this year.
The company’s shares began changing hands at HK$6.3, up 7.1 per cent from the listing price of HK$5.88, and climbed as high as HK$6.4 within the first hour, shrugging off market jitters that brought the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 1.54 per cent as of 10:30am.
The robust trading debut of the retailer of dried-duck necks and heads came after it set its price near the bottom end of the marketed range of HK$5.8 to HK$7.8, raising HK$2.37 billion in the IPO.
It has also made founder and chairman Zhou Fuyu, who was born in an impoverished rural neighbourhood in southwest China, into an overnight billionaire and one of China’s richest men, according to calculations by the Post.
“We believe this will give investors greater confidence and the company will continue to progress steadily,” Zhou Hei Ya’s executive director Hao Lixiao said at a press conference on Friday.
