Mainland Movie Ticket Platform Slumps On IPO Debut

The biggest movie-ticketing platform on the mainland has suffered a setback as its shares made a weak debut during Hong Kong trading – the latest in a string of weak starts among mainland tech firms listing here.

Shares of Maoyan Entertainment opened near the offer price of HK$14.80, but later slumped more than 5 percent and stayed in the red throughout the half day trading before the market closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

The shares ended down 1 percent, at HK$14.54, putting the loss at HK$32 dollars for every 200 shares.

The weak debut came after Maoyan, which is backed by tech giant Tencent, priced its shares at the bottom of a proposed range and raised almost HK$2 billion during the IPO – much smaller than initial market expectations

The float is being watched as a test of investor sentiment for IPOs after a patchy performance by newly listed stocks last year amid China-US trade tension.

Many firms such as online food delivery-to-ticketing services provider Meituan Dianping and smartphone maker Xiaomi raised billions of dollars in their listings, but their shares are trading below their IPO prices.

Speaking during a ceremony at the stock exchange, the chief executive officer of Maoyan, Zhihao Zheng, played down the lacklustre debut, saying the firm is not worried about short-term fluctuations.