A record HK$341.9 billion was raised through IPOs in Hong Kong in 2006, thanks to the mega-deals of two mainland lenders.

The figure is nearly 80 per cent more than last year's.

The amount helped Hong Kong become the largest IPO market in the world after London, overtaking New York in the process, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Chief Executive Paul Chow said yesterday.

Mainland companies accounted for a bulk of that amount, with Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China alone raising about US$30 billion.

But it will be hard for Hong Kong to maintain that momentum in 2007, some market watchers said, because not as many mega-deals seem to be in the offing.

"The overall issuance (in 2007) will be a little bit lower than this year's," ABN AMRO's head of equity capital markets Rene Mijne said.

Big deals on the slate for early 2007 include a property trust sale by Hong Kong's Regal Hotels International Holdings that could be worth US$760 million, and a US$400-million real estate investment trust by Hong Kong's Wharf Holdings and its parent firm Wheelock & Co.

China Pacific Insurance, too, is expected to raise about US$1 billion in a deal that could be launched in the first half of next year, while China CITIC Bank is set to raise about US$2 billion through its IPO.

Last debutants

The last two market debutants this year finished the day on a solid footing yesterday.

Hong Kong non-life insurer Ming An (Holdings) Co climbed as much as 38.3 per cent from its offer price of HK$1.88 to reach HK$2.6, and ultimately close at HK$2.53 for a 34 per cent rise.

Plastic injection moulding machine maker Haitian International Holdings rose 6.3 per cent to a high of HK$4.2 against its offer price of HK$3.95, and finished the day at HK$3.97.