HYC kicks off IPO proceedings on new STAR technology board

Investors' enthusiasm for technology companies was focused on the STAR Market at the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Thursday, as HYC Technology, which was the first company to start its initial public offering at the new tech board, started its online subscription.

The online and offline subscription for the Suzhou-based manufacturer of automatic detection equipment for industrial equipment was available on Thursday.

HYC Technology said in an announcement released on Tuesday that the company's issue price is set at 24.26 yuan ($3.53) per share. About 7.6 million shares were available for online subscription. An individual investor could subscribe to a maximum of 7,500 shares.

The result of the subscription will be announced on July 1.

Public information from China Securities Regulatory Commission showed that there are more than 2.7 million individual investors who have obtained access to invest in the new tech board.

Peng Hai, an analyst who tracks the new tech board at Lianxun Securities, said that the success rate will come at 0.057 percent if all the 2.7 million investors applied for the subscription, which is similar to the average 0.06 percent success rate of the A-share market recently.

Based on its earnings per share registered in 2018 and its net profit, HYC's price earnings ratio is 41.08 times, which is higher than the 31.11 times average static PE ratio over the past one month.

Information from Huatai United Securities - the major underwriter for HYC Technology - showed that initial quotation came between 10.65 yuan and 31.76 yuan per share.

Meanwhile, a total of 52 securities firms and their affiliated asset management companies took part in the price inquiry.

According to Zhou Wenqun, portfolio manager at global investment company Fidelity International, the marketized pricing system is one major breakthrough of the STAR Market.

For the companies listed on the main board of the A-share market, their pricing is set at 23 times their respective historic price earnings ratio, regardless of the type of the company, the profitability, growth rate or size. The only one pricing standard applied for all companies has become increasingly unreasonable over time, Zhou explained.

"But for the STAR Market, the inquired price is based on the coordinated result between the buyer and the seller, which can truly reflect the company's value," she added.

"On one hand, a STAR Market listed company will be able to seek more financing if the PE ratio comes above 23 times. But that is just a good example. For the less qualified companies, they might see their PE ratio come even under 10 times. But on the other hand, it is more helpful for investors to discover the companies with real value," she said.

Initiated in early November and officially launched on June 13, the STAR Market has so far received applications from 131 companies by Thursday, among which six have passed the revision of the SSE.