Ping An shares end 38% up on 1st trading day

    The Shenzhen-based insurer's yuan-shares ended yesterday at 46.79 yuan (6.04 U.S.dollars) after climbing to an intraday high of 50.97 yuan. The shares opened at 50 yuan, 48 percent higher than its IPO price of 33.8 yuan. Ping An launched its 5-billion dollars IPO on February 9.

    "We are satisfied with the share performance on their debut," said Ma Mingzhe, chairman of Ping An. "The A-share listing marks a key moment for Ping An."

    The second biggest insurer in China raised 38.87 billion yuan as the second mainland-listed insurer after China Life Insurance by selling 1.15 billion yuan-denominated shares.

    Ping An drew offers of 1.1 trillion yuan from retail and institutional investors, second only to Industrial Bank Co, which attracted 1.16 trillion yuan of bids for its domestic share sale in February.

    "The market is showing a rational response to Ping An's debut," said She Minhua, a China Securities Co analyst. "Ping An's growth is partly curbed by the broader and generally sluggish market."

    She has expected a price range of 44 yuan to 56 yuan for Ping An.

    The barometer Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2.91 percent to 2,797.19 yesterday. On Tuesday, the index plunged 8.84 percent in the biggest single-day tumble in a decade. The index recovered 3.9 percent on Wednesday.

    She said it is a wise move to buy Ping An shares at the present level.

    Shenyin Wanguo Securities said shares of Ping An may grow to 62 yuan in 12 months.

    Ma has ambitious plans to build Ping An into China's first publicly traded financial holding company.

    The money raised will help Ping An to further expand into the banking, securities and assets management sectors as an all-round financial player, said Zhang Zixin, executive director of Ping An.

    Ping An, set up in 1988, is 19.9 percent held by HSBC Holdings Plc. The insurer has about 200,000 life insurance agents, 40,000-plus employees and a client pool of 30 million individuals.

2007-03-02