Goodbaby rises as investors seek more exposure
Mainland stroller manufacturer Goodbaby International Holdings zoomed up yesterday on its trading debut as investors scrambled to add exposure to a niche segment of China's domestic market.
Goodbaby is a leading provider of strollers on the mainland and in overseas markets such as the United States and Europe. It has also expressed interest in expanding production of other children's care products.
'The story is a pretty good story because of the potential market in China,' said Ben Kwong Man-bun, chief operating officer of securities firm KGI Asia. 'The share price fared quite well but the valuation is not cheap at all at this level so further upside will be relatively small.'
Goodbaby jumped as much as 25.9 per cent in the morning before finishing the day up 18.4 per cent at HK$5.80. It was the fifth-largest gainer in the Hong Kong market yesterday and about HK$2 billion worth of stock changed hands.
The initial public offering will yield about HK$900 million in net proceeds for Goodbaby after it sold 201 million shares at HK$4.90 each. An additional 99 million shares were sold by a shareholder, bringing the total size of the deal to nearly HK$1.5 billion.
Goodbaby planned to pump about 30 per cent of its offer proceeds into capital expenditures to increase production and staff quarters, according to a pre-listing document. It also earmarked funds for research and development and the expansion of its distribution network.
About 10 of every 18 strollers sold in the US and Canada and 10 of every 37 in China were made by Goodbaby in 2009. The manufacturer was the largest supplier for both markets, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan.
Song Zhenghuan, chairman of Goodbaby, said earlier that the company intends to increase its market share in secondary products like baby car safety seats. Goodbaby made HK$141.5 million profit in the first seven months of this year, up 42.4 per cent from 2009.
There have been 83 new listings on Hong Kong's main board so far this year, including offerings and listings by way of introduction. There were 68 last year and 47 in 2008, according to data from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
The Hang Seng Index is down 0.31 per cent so far this month.
Baby steps
Goodbaby's offering coupled with the sale of shares by a shareholder raised, in Hong kong dollars, about: $1.5b
