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Amanda Lee

Nick Westra

Two companies yesterday began trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange as the initial public offerings market heats up, but their debut performances were mixed.
While miner IRC dipped 8.3 per cent, Springland International Holdings, an operator of department stores and supermarkets on the mainland gained 12.65 per cent. 
IRC, the iron ore unit of a major Russian gold producer, dropped during its trading debut as investors worried it would not be able to turn a near-term profit.
The mining company slumped as much as 11.1 per cent during the morning session before finishing down at HK$1.65. 
More than HK$350 million worth of its shares changed hands on the day.
'It is within expectations,' said Kenny Tang Sing-hing, an executive director at Redford Asset Management. 
'The company is not likely to pay a dividend within a very short time and also the market is worried about its cash flow.'
IRC said it expected losses for this year would not exceed US$95 million. In a pre-offering prospectus, the company said it lost US$139.1 million last year and US$426.6 million in 2008.
Tang said local investors still generally prefer to buy mainland listed resource companies rather than less familiar Russian ones.
'The market is quite cautious about Russian companies after Rusal listed in Hong Kong because the performance has not been quite good,' Tang said.
Rusal, a Russian aluminium producer, is still 10.2 per cent off its offering price at HK$9.70 even after surging 36.8 per cent since the start of July.
Department stores and supermarkets operator Springland International yesterday made a modest gain of 12.65 per cent above its offer price of HK$5.93.
Springland, which raised about HK$2.81 billion, rose to as high as HK$6.78 before closing at HK$6.68. 
Separately, Evergreen International Holdings, a menswear retailer from the mainland, is raising as much as HK$1.09 billion.
The offering has been priced at an indicative range of HK$3.80 and HK$4.60. 
New Horizon Capital, a private equity fund co-founded by Premier Wen Jiabao's son, Wen Yunsong, will own 14.26 per cent of Evergreen following its listing. 
Evergreen owns and manages menswear brand that catered for men aged between 25 and 40. It has been a dealer of Cartier accessories since 2008. 
The revenue of the company last year was 409 million yuan (HK$476.61 million), up from 340 million yuan in 2008. 
Net profit was 104.9 million yuan, compared with 60.4 million yuan previously. 
More than 60 per cent of the net proceeds of the share sale would be spent to expand its retail network and for acquiring new brands. 
Evergreen shares are expected to begin trading on November 4  on the Hong Kong stock exchange.



IRC and Springland put on mixed showing on their first trading day