Shares for Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (中國工商銀行) rose yesterday as China's largest lender launched its US$21.9 billion initial public offering -- the world's biggest ever -- in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The stock's price rocketed up 14.6 percent to HK$3.52 (US$0.45) -- compared to its IPO price of HK$3.07 per share -- when it started trading in Hong Kong. They traded between HK$3.50 and HK$3.63 in the morning session.
The state-owned bank made history by simultaneously listing its IPO in Shanghai, but its shares there didn't rise as much as expected. The bank's so-called "A shares" gained 5.1 percent from their debut price to close at 3.28 yuan (US$0.42). They had been expected to trade between 3.40 yuan and 3.60 yuan.
ICBC's stock sale beats the previous record, a US$18.4 billion IPO by Japanese mobile phone firm NTT DoCoMo Inc in 1998.
In the past year, three of China's Big Four banks have successfully gone public, selling US$42 billion worth of stock to international investors.
The IPO's timing for the gargantuan bank, whose assets totaled 6.45 trillion yuan (US$816 billion) at the end of last year, couldn't be better.
After years of languishing in post dot-com bust and scandal-related doldrums, Shanghai's market has finally taken off, trading near five-year highs. Yuan-denominated A shares are up nearly 56 percent since the beginning of the year.
And Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index surged 1.1 percent to a record high of 18,353.74 on Thursday.
Over the past decade, China's best companies, such as Petro-China Co (
Current regulations prevent most mainland Chinese from openly investing in Hong Kong shares, and bar most foreign investors from buying yuan-denominated mainland Chinese shares.
But in the past year, regulators have carried out carefully orchestrated shareholding reforms aimed at shifting government-held, nontradable shares into the market. Most of the shares affected are subject to lockup periods, helping to alleviate uncertainties over a possible flood of new shares hitting the market.
The giant bank's trading debut marks a milestone in more than two decades of reforms.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS