Asia Cement's IPO tops in HK this year

Shares of Asia Cement (China) Holdings, the mainland arm of Taiwan’s Asia Cement Corp, jumped 44% in their trading debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday, raising US$238 million, making it the strongest Hong Kong IPO for 2008, Reuters reported. Shares rose from their IPO price of HK$4.95 (US$0.63) to HK$7.15 (US$0.92) per share, following company announcements that the firm’s Sichuan Yadong plant had resumed operations on May 19, and it did not expect last week’s earthquake to impact operations or financial performance. Cement is expected to be in heavy demand in Sichuan when rebuilding begins. Asia Cement sold 375 million H-shares, or 25% of its enlarged share capital.