Small investors in Hong Kong have seen their hopes of a quick killing on a share flotation by the city's richest man evaporate, a news report said yesterday.
Thousands of housewives and pensioners bought into the latest venture by Li Ka-shing -- nicknamed Superman because of his famed "Midas touch" -- in the hope of instant profit when it went public on Tuesday.
Biotechnology venture CK Life Sciences however had a muted debut, closing its first day just 7.5 percent up on its issue price of HK$2.15 (US$0.27), the South China Morning Post reported.
The disappointing debut meant investors who bought 2,000 shares at a cost of HK$4,100 (US$525) and sold out at the first day closing price made a profit of just HK$100 (US$12.8) after broker's fees.
Two years ago, small investors made instant profits of up to HK$16,000 (US$2,000) when Li Ka-shing's last flotation, Internet venture Tom.com, went public. The stock price more than quadrupled on its first day.
Li, one of Asia's richest men, is the most powerful businessman in Hong Kong and investors have strong belief in his wealth creation ability. CK Life Sciences was massively oversubscribed despite cynicism from analysts on its market potential.
One CK Life Sciences investor, Wong Yuk-mui, 70, told the Post: "My friends and I are very disappointed because the profit that we made is barely enough to buy us dinner.
"We bet our money on Li Ka-shing's fame and we expected CK Life's shares to move up about 50 percent on the first day."
Hong Kong is suffering an economic downturn that has seen the Hang Seng Index slump from 18,000 two and a half years ago to just over 10,000 today. Unemployment in the territory has risen to a record high of 7.7 percent.
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