China rail infrastructure giant closes higher on debut trading in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- China Railway, the infrastructure construction industry giant, closed its debut trading in the Hong Kong market on Friday at 7.36 HK dollars, 27 percent higher than the initial offer price of 5.78 HK dollars.

Shares of the state-owned enterprise, which have attracted a remarkable 209 times over subscription, opened Friday on the Hong Kong mainboard at 6.8 HK dollars.

Speaking at a ceremony celebrating the IPO in Hong Kong Friday, group chairman Shi Dahua said he was "more than satisfied" with the stock's performance, adding that he was confident that shares of the state-owned enterprise were of great potential.

Shi further said he was pleased with prices of the shares on the Shanghai market as well, which shows that it has been successful for the company to be first listed on the mainland market and then on the Hong Kong market.

China Railway share price once went as high as 7.5 HK dollars and turnover reached 2.07 billion HK dollars (0.35 billion U.S. dollars).

Analysts said closing price of the stock was "higher than previous market estimates," explained by lesser profit figures for the company, that is, if you compare it with China Communications Construction Group, another mainland industry giant.

Some, however, said they expected China Railway to build on its current profitability, given larger potential arising from the less impressive profitability.

China Railway had its origin in the construction bureaus established under the country's railway ministry and, like other state-owned industry construction bureaus, was charged with construction of rail infrastructure but has later expanded.

It was currently one of the Fortune 500 companies and the leading construction conglomerate in China. It ranks among the top five construction contractors worldwide.

Already listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, the company launched its initial public offering in Hong Kong on Nov. 23 to raise over 19 billion HK dollars (2.44 billion U.S. dollars).