MGM China shares rise 2% on debut

3 June 2011 Last updated at 11:43 GMT Rising gambling revenues in Macau have driven up the profits of casino operators in the territory MGM China has made its debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange as investors continue to bank on Macau's gambling boom.

The shares ended the day up 2% at HK$15.62. During the session, the company's shares rose as much as 6%.

MGM China is one of only six companies that have licences to operate casinos in Macau.

The company priced its stock at HK$15.34 per share, the top end of its expected range, raising $1.5bn (?912m).

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[Young people] know they will get a job in a casino and have a pretty good life. There's less drive to compete”

End Quote Ricardo Siu University of Macau Gambling revenues in Macau have been rising, turning it into the world's biggest gambling market.

Booming market

Major Asian economies are witnessing robust growth, which has helped revenue and profits of Macau's casino operators rise substantially.

Gambling revenue in Macau surged 57% in 2010 to $23.5bn (?14.4bn).

As a result, investors have made a beeline for shares of the leading operators in the territory.

Shares of SJM Holdings, the largest casino operator in the territory, have risen by 240% in the past year.

Galaxy Entertainment, which runs six casinos in Macau, has seen its stock price surge by 380%.

Analysts say that as the profile of Macau keeps rising, investors are betting on the operators in a bid to grab a share of the success.

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Glencore's shares flat on debut

19 May 2011 Last updated at 17:41 GMT Glencore is expected to be fast-tracked into the FTSE 100 Shares in the commodities trading giant Glencore ended right where they started on the first day of conditional - or "grey" - trading in London.

They closed at the same price as they opened - 530p - although at one point they rose as much as 4% to 548p.

Full trading in the firm, whose ?36.7bn share-offer value makes it one of the biggest in the UK, begins on Tuesday.

It was expected to raise about ?6.8bn, making it London's largest initial public offering.

Glencore's valuation means it is expected to be fast-tracked into the FTSE 100 index at the end of its first day of full trading on 24 May - only the third time that has happened in the index's history.

Glencore is also selling shares in Hong Kong, which have been priced at 66.53 Hong Kong dollars per share.

Glencore's directors and employees still hold about 83.1% of the company, making them extremely wealthy on paper.

Chief executive Ivan Glasenberg, the largest shareholder with about 18% of the company, will be worth about ?6bn, making him one of the world's richest men.

"Glencore's offer has seen substantial interest from investors around the world and was significantly oversubscribed throughout the price range providing Glencore with a high-quality, diverse and geographically spread investor base," he said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

Secretive

The initial offering was only for institutions, so retail investors will not get a chance to buy into Glencore until the start of full trading.

Retail investors will be scrutinising Glencore's prospectus to find out more about what has until recently been a relatively secretive company.

The prospectus gives details of the company's activities in countries such as Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, which have attracted controversy in the past.

It also describes pending litigation, including the forthcoming trial of a former employee and a current employee, charged in Belgium with having "committed corruption in exchange for information covered by professional secrecy", in a case relating to the leaking of details of European agricultural quotas.

Former BP boss Lord Browne withdrew from a decision to become Glencore's chairman at the last minute, a move which was attributed to his concerns about transparency.

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LinkedIn shares double on debut

19 May 2011 Last updated at 17:04 GMT LinkedIn executives rang New York's opening bell on Thursday Shares in business networking website LinkedIn have more than doubled on their trading debut in New York, having been priced at $45 each.

Its share price hit $108 at one point in the sort of debut rally not seen since the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s.

The initial sale price was already at the top of an increased range.

LinkedIn sold 7.84 million shares at $45 each. At $100 a share the company is worth about $10bn.

LinkedIn is the first US social network site to get a share listing.

Some analysts believe its strong debut is down to investors' over-enthusiasm for social media stocks.

"The price we're seeing for LinkedIn shares has nothing to do with the value of the company," says Paul Kedrosky, angel investor and senior fellow at the Kaufman Foundation.

"It's just an indication of how much appetite and interest there is for social media stocks."

"LinkedIn is the only trading vehicle for this type of stock. It's the equivalent of trying to funnel thousands of people through a single door".

"Every investor I know is currently scouring around for a social media company to take public. They think it's worth selling at this stage, but not necessarily buying the stocks," he added.

Continue reading the main story Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent, BBC News

$4bn looks a very fancy price for a company with revenues last year of $243m and profits of $15.4m.

That looks modest compared with the figures of $50bn and more being bandied around for Facebook's valuation.

Both price tags will look dumb to those sceptics who see Facebook as an ephemeral craze for people with poor social skills and LinkedIn as little more than a glorified Rolodex

There have been concerns that social networking sites are creating a new stock market bubble.

Shares in one of China's biggest social networking sites Renren rose sharply on their debut in New York earlier this month.

Renren's shares were priced at $14, and in their first day of trading peaked at $21.93 before closing at $18.01.

Facebook and Twitter are both expected to seek stock market listings in the next few years.

On Wednesday, the price range for LinkedIn's initial public offering was lifted from $32 to $35 a share to a range of $42 to $45.

Before shares in LinkedIn started trading, this new price range had valued it at about 17 times its earnings from 2010.

But at $100 a share the company is worth 25 times its 2011 revenue, assuming first-quarter sales are matched over the next three quarters.

Google, which went public in 2004, has a market value of about six times its annual revenues.

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