Guangzhou Rural Bank makes subdued HK debut after $1 bln IPO (updated)

Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank

20/06/2017 05:27

* Shares up slightly after rural bank raises $1 bln in IPO 
    * Retail investors buy less than half of shares on offer 
 
 (Recasts and adds other bank IPOs) 
    HONG KONG, June 20 (Reuters) - Shares in Guangzhou Rural 
Commercial Bank Co Ltd (GRCB)  1551.HK  traded mostly flat in 
their debut on Tuesday as retail investors shied away from the 
largest IPO in Hong Kong so far this year, a sign of diminishing 
interest in financial sector listings. 
    Banks, brokerages and other financial services firms 
typically account for the bulk of new listings in the city, but 
have only comprised 23 percent of IPOs so far in 2017, weighed 
down by concerns over rising bad debt in China. 
    The subdued first day of trade contrasts with heavy interest 
in WuXi Biologics Cayman Inc  2269.HK , a rapidly growing 
contract drug researcher and development firm, that surged as 
much as much as 39 percent in its debut earlier this month. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1JA18E   
    China's No.5 rural commercial bank by assets edged up to 
HK$5.12, compared with its IPO price of HK$5.10. The benchmark 
Hang Seng index  .HSI  was flat. 
    GRCB priced its $1 billion IPO slightly below the middle of 
its marketing range of HK$4.99 to HK$5.27 per share.  
    Demand from retail investors - who have a significant 
influence over first-day trading in Hong Kong share offerings - 
accounted for 0.45 times the number of shares on offer in the 
deal, the lender said in a securities filing on Monday, 
underscoring weak appetite for the deal. 
    The institutional tranche was moderately oversubscribed. 
    The deal is the second by a rural commercial bank in Hong 
Kong this year, following a $446 million listing by Jilin Jiutai 
Rural Commercial Bank Corp Ltd  6122.HK  in January. 
    Non-performing loans at Chinese commercial banks rose to 
1.58 trillion yuan ($232 billion) at the end of March, from 1.51 
trillion yuan in December, regulatory data showed. With the 
world's No.2 economy growing at a slower pace, that figure is 
expected to climb further, analysts have said. 
    Other lenders looking to go public this year include 
Zhongyuan Bank and Bank of Gansu, which plan to raise about $1 
billion and $700 million respectively. 
 
 (Reporting by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Richard Pullin and 
Edwina Gibbs) 
 ((elzio.barreto@thomsonreuters.com;)(852)(2843-1608; Reuters 
Messaging: elzio.barreto.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: GRCB LISTING/