Chinese investors gear up for huge PetroChina debut
Monday, 5 November 2007
SHANGHAI, Nov 4 (AFP): Like many Chinese investors, Su Qiaozhen, a manager at a Shanghai property firm, believes that investing in an initial public offering (IPO) of a large company like PetroChina is a sure bet.
"Betting on new stocks is an easy way to make money, there is no risk," she said, after buying about 51,000 yuan (US$6,800) worth of PetroChina shares ahead of the oil firm's trading debut in Shanghai Monday.
Su (50) is one of thousands of investors who this week scrambled for a slice of the action ahead of PetroChina's $8.9-billion share sale, the world's largest this year.
The figure eclipses the record of China's top coal company, Shenhua Energy, which raised 66.58 billion yuan last month, while overtaking China Construction Bank's $7.7-billion listing in September.
Su wanted to get her hands on two million yuan worth of PetroChina shares, but demand in Asia's largest energy group was so huge that investors overbooked the issue by a record $440 billion.
PetroChina is the latest in a raft of IPOs which, over the last nine months to September, saw Chinese firms raise a record $56.7 billion on the nation's bourse, according to the latest available government figures.
The totals exceed the $56.5 billion raised on Chinese mainland exchanges in the four years to 2006, according to the market watchdog, in a sharp turnaround for a stock market floundering at eight year lows in mid-2005.
As more investors have piled in, the key Shanghai Composite index has leaped some 120 per cent this year after gaining around 130 per cent last year, to create one of the biggest bull markets in history.
"Betting on new stocks is an easy way to make money, there is no risk," she said, after buying about 51,000 yuan (US$6,800) worth of PetroChina shares ahead of the oil firm's trading debut in Shanghai Monday.
Su (50) is one of thousands of investors who this week scrambled for a slice of the action ahead of PetroChina's $8.9-billion share sale, the world's largest this year.
The figure eclipses the record of China's top coal company, Shenhua Energy, which raised 66.58 billion yuan last month, while overtaking China Construction Bank's $7.7-billion listing in September.
Su wanted to get her hands on two million yuan worth of PetroChina shares, but demand in Asia's largest energy group was so huge that investors overbooked the issue by a record $440 billion.
PetroChina is the latest in a raft of IPOs which, over the last nine months to September, saw Chinese firms raise a record $56.7 billion on the nation's bourse, according to the latest available government figures.
The totals exceed the $56.5 billion raised on Chinese mainland exchanges in the four years to 2006, according to the market watchdog, in a sharp turnaround for a stock market floundering at eight year lows in mid-2005.
As more investors have piled in, the key Shanghai Composite index has leaped some 120 per cent this year after gaining around 130 per cent last year, to create one of the biggest bull markets in history.