Shares in Belle International Holdings, the largest mainland women's footwear retailer, rose a less than expected 31.29 per cent on their trading debut yesterday on a down day for the market.
The value of the stock jumped in early morning trading by as much as 36.29 per cent to HK$8.45 from the offer price of HK$6.20, before closing at HK$8.14. About HK$5.78 billion worth of shares changed hands.
The shares had earlier traded in the grey market at between HK$8.80 and HK$9.
For each board lot of 1,000 Belle shares allotted in the initial public offering, investors could have made as much as HK$2,250 if they sold out at the peak.
The Hang Seng Index ended lower for a second consecutive day, falling 0.22 per cent to 20,798.97 points. Turnover was HK$59.11 billion.
Belle's market value yesterday reached HK$66.5 billion, making it the largest retail stock in Hong Kong. The stock closed at about 55 times this year's earnings, much higher than the average price-earnings ratio of 27.5 for other mainland footwear retailers.