Guotai Junan Securities shares inch up on Hong Kong debut

Shares in Guotai Junan Securities, China’s third-biggest brokerage, were edging higher at the open on their debut day in Hong Kong, stable at the single price offered by the broker for its $2.1bn Hong Kong floatation.

Shares were up 0.4 per cent at HK$15.90, from their offer price of HK$15.84 shortly after market open.

Guotai Junan is China’s third-biggest brokerage by sales, ranking behind Citic Securities and Haitong. Its floatation is the second-largest globally this year, behind the $3.9bn US IPO of messaging app group Snap.

The single offer price also upends the usual process of advisers recommending a price as the book of orders gradually builds. The offer price of HK$15.84 a share represented a discount of 25 per cent to the closing price of its shares in Shanghai before the deal was launched. The price implied a price-to-book ratio of 1.08 times — slightly below where its peers are trading.