Hong Kong Sees Another Wild IPO Swing From 84% Gain to a Loss

(Bloomberg) -- A Chinese pipe maker endured a rollercoaster debut, finishing the day at a loss after almost doubling during its initial public offering in Hong Kong.

Maike Tube Industry Holdings Ltd. surged as much as 84% on Wednesday morning, before closing down 5.7%.

It’s the latest example of a stock seeing wild swings in its Hong Kong debut. Snack Empire Holdings Ltd. nearly tripled on its opening day two months ago before closing down 6.2%. Its shares are now 29% below their offer price.

Maike Tube appeared to have stabilized by late-morning. But the weakness continued, capped by late-afternoon selling which pushed shares into negative territory.

Trading volume was 60 million shares, versus the 98.4 million sold in the HK$224 million IPO. The offering had priced near the high end of expectations, and retail investors sought about 8.3 times the amount of stock made available to them. But after the initial surge Wednesday, enthusiasm quickly dissipated.

Initial public offerings have slowed this month in Hong Kong, in what is a typical seasonal lull globally ahead of the Christmas period. The local equity capital market of late was dominated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s more than $11 billion secondary offering last month, the city’s largest stock deal in nearly a decade. Its shares have risen 15% since their debut.

Two other companies also started trading Wednesday in Hong Kong. Mainland concrete firm Tailam Tech Construction Holdings Ltd. finished 14% above its offer price after earlier climbing as much as 40%. Appliance company JS Global Lifestyle Co., which cut the size of prior IPO plans, ended up 5.6%.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Kingsbury in Hong Kong at kkingsbury2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sofia Horta e Costa at shortaecosta@bloomberg.net, David Watkins, Kevin Kingsbury

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