An investor looks at IPO prospectuses of Renhe Commercial Holdings Company Ltd at a branch of Bank of China in Central yesterday. Subscriptions to the shares were minimal on the first day of its public offering. Edmond Tang

The only initial public offering (IPO) to have braved the choppy market in the city in over a month hit a cold shoulder yesterday, as no investors asked for margin finance to subscribe the shares, a broker said.

Subscriptions to shares of Renhe Commercial, a mainland developer of underground shopping malls, were minimal on the first day of its Hong Kong public offering.

"We have not received any margin applications today," said a spokesperson from Philips Securities. "It is pretty quiet in the market."

Investors are not interested in Renhe's shares at all, said Kingston Lin, an associate director of Prudential Brokerage. "We don't see any positive news for its offering," Lin said.

Analysts advised investors not to subscribe to the shares.

"I think investors shouldn't get involved in this right now," said Patrick Shum, executive director of Karl Thomson Investment Consultant Ltd. "An IPO relies on the atmosphere of the market. If the market is good, it will do well regardless which type of company it is," Shum said.

In 2006 and 2007, companies benefited from a good stock market and retail investors were looking for short-term earning when buying IPOs, Shum said. Looking at the current market situation, Renhe shares may drop if the firm finally gets listed, he added.

Renhe's IPO is the first in Hong Kong in more than a month. It aimed to raise as much as HK$5.13 billion.

Lin even doubted whether the firm would go ahead with the listing plan at all, saying it may probably postpone the offering.

The last listing in Hong Kong was a $1.5 billion dual IPO by China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp Ltd in August. Its Hong Kong share price closed at HK$2.95 yesterday. Their offering price was HK$2.60 apiece.

(HK Edition 10/01/2008 page3)