South Korea’s Posco Engineering & Construction said on Tuesday it had decided to scrap its planned initial public offering due to lower-than-expected pricing, a move which is likely to damp the country’s IPO market.

The builder was to have been one of the first South Korean companies to test the IPO market this year and would have been the country’s biggest listing in three years. With the country’s stock market up 40 per cent since its March trough, many of the country’s companies are preparing listings.