Hong Kong’s IPO revival faces test as 3 new stocks stumble on debut

Hong Kong's IPO revival faced its first challenge on Tuesday as three new stocks underperformed on their debut. The combined IPOs raised HK$14.4 billion, but three companies opened below their offer prices, adding pressure to an already slow month for initial public offerings. RoboTechnik Intelligent Technology, the largest company to debut, raised HK$5.18 billion but saw its shares trade nearly 10 percent below the offer price in early trading.

Shenzhen Kinwong Electronic, priced at the top of its range at HK$69.88, dropped up to 8.1 percent after raising HK$5.1 billion, although it later recovered and rose nearly 11 percent above its offer price. These volatile debuts came after a mixed third quarter for Hong Kong listings, with 26 companies listing during the period, including notable IPOs from Zhongji Innolight, Shein, and Luxshare.

Out of these, 12 fell below their offer prices, 12 traded more than 20 percent below, and the remaining two opened at lower or higher prices. Two more companies, Red Avenue New Materials and Direct Drive Tech, debuting on Tuesday, saw their shares open 9 percent lower and 4 percent higher, respectively. Meanwhile, Shenzhen Camsense Technologies, producing spatial sensors for robotic vacuum cleaners, is scheduled to trade on Wednesday after raising HK$680 million, attracting 158,000 subscription applications, making the offering 3,551 times oversubscribed.

This week marks Hong Kong's busiest for listings since July, when 15 companies launched within a single week.