Central China Management Co.’s shares slumped in their Hong Kong trading debut as investors’ appetite for property stocks weakened and as Chinese data were weaker than economists’ estimate.
Shares of the project management services unit of Central China Real Estate Ltd. 832, -4.59% fell as much as 20% in early trade Monday, dropping to HK$2.40 from its initial public offering price. The company had priced its shares at HK$3.00, near the top end of an earlier guided range of 2.40 Hong Kong dollars (30.92 U.S. cents) to HK$3.20. The IPO raised HK$916.2 million from its offering of 328.17 million shares. Central China Management plans to use the proceeds for its business expansion.
Property stocks were lower, with China Evergrande Group 3333, -2.64% losing 2.8%, Country Garden Holdings Co. 2007, -1.11% dropping 1.6% and China Resources Land Ltd. 1109, -0.68% shedding 0.7%. Data released Monday showed China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index slipped to 51.0 in May, from 51.1 in April. The May result was slightly lower than the 51.1 median forecast tipped by a Wall Street Journal poll of economists.