The shares of Agricultural Bank of China finished their Shanghai trading debut yesterday up less than 1 per cent from their issue price, well below the 10 per cent jump the bank's management had targeted.
Although disappointing for the Chinese market – where share prices usually soar on their first trading day – the fact that the shares did not fall will come as a relief to bank executives and government officials, who are hoping the initial public offering will break the record as the world's biggest.
The dual Hong Kong and Shanghai listing aims to raise as much as $22.1bn once an over- allotment quota is fully allocated. AgBank, one of the country's five biggest banks, finished the day at Rmb2.70 per share, up only marginally from the Rmb2.68 per share issue price.