Biopharmaceutical company SK Bioscience Co. South Korea’s is the top gainer among initial public offerings that have raised more than $1 billion this year, leading a ranking dominated by listings from that country.
Shares of SK Bioscience are up about 262% since they began trading in Seoul in the first quarter, the highest among 94 major offerings since January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The IPO raised $1.3 billion for the company, which is a local Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing partner with AstraZeneca Plc.
The company is the first of five South Korean firms to raise more than $1 billion each through new stock offerings this year, with several tech-related names also rising. spiked in their trading debut. Most of these deals were made possible by the strong involvement of retail investors. The valuation bubble prompted increased scrutiny by regulators as the year unfolded.
SK Bioscience also surpassed two big listings in Shanghai, China Three Gorges Renewable Energy Corporation and Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co., both up more than 140%. Several other South Korean names appear in the top 10 globally for the year, including Kakao Pay Corp., KakaoBank Corp. and SK IE Technology Co., giving the country more representation in the rankings than any other market.
Shares of SK Bioscience jumped to a record high in August after local media reported that the company would begin shipping 1.1 million doses of the drug by then. The company also gets a boost from the inclusion of indexes compiled by MSCI Inc. follow-up in the same month.
But part of those stellar gains have faded, with the stock down about 16% since early December. It was among a string of Asian healthcare stocks that fell on Tuesday, following a slump declines by US biotech companies, as investors reacted to reports showing relatively mild cases of omicron variation.
The healthcare company has eight buy and no sell or hold recommendations among analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
