PICC rises 6.9% after Hong Kong IPO

Biggest IPO for 2012 nets HK$23.2 billion on first day.

Shares of People's Insurance Company (Group) of China jumped on its first trading day in Hong Kong last Friday with investors snapping up its shares priced at the low end of the price range.

PICC shares stood at HK$3.72 ($0.48) at the close on Friday, 6.9% higher than its HK$3.48 issuing price announced Thursday. The issuing price range was earlier set at HK$3.42 to HK$4.03.

PICC raised HK$23.2 billion after commissions in the biggest IPO so far this year in Hong Kong.

The company's share prices surge came despite a loss in the benchmark Hang Seng Index, which dipped 0.26%, or 58.64 points, to 22191.17 points on Friday.

Analysts said the jump was in line with their expectations since PICC's relatively low issuing price helped stoke investors' enthusiasm. They expect PICC to be 10% higher than its issuing price by the end of the year.

A 15% greenshoe option was introduced to ensure share price stability. It allowed PICC to issue an additional 1.03 billion shares and put the total funds raised beyond HK$30 billion.

The IPO ended PICC's three year effort to IPO in Hong Kong. News of an A+H share listing first surfaced in 2009 when the group completed an overall restructuring and became legally eligible to go public.