According to Bloomberg, the world's top performing IPO in 2016 is a Hong Kong-based civil engineering stock called Luen Wong Group Holdings (HKG: 8217). The stock soared nearly 1,500 percent on its first day of trading back in April and is 6,715 percent above its offer price.
The company's activities include laying roads and digging sewers.
Bloomberg noted this particular instance exemplifies the "quirks" in Hong Kong's stock market. Luen Wong Group reported sales of $41 million in 2015 and earned a profit of $1.1 million but is valued just shy of $3 billion and is trading at 2,196 times its earnings.
This is because many companies only offer a tiny portion of their stock to the public to trade, and there is a "healthy sideline" of mainland China-based firms buying Hong Kong listed forms to plot a reverse takeover.
Bloomberg added that a study conducted by the Securities and Futures Commission found that 56 companies listed in Hong Kong saw their stock rise more than 1,000 percent over a six-month period. Thirty-nine of those companies happened to be unprofitable.
Needless to say, buyer beware.
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