Shares opened on the Shanghai Stock Exchange at 24.80 yuan (US$3.20) yesterday, at the low end of most analysts' predictions of 24 to 26 yuan, after an initial public offering (IPO) price of 15.98 yuan.

The bank's shares then slid for most of the day to close at 22.18 yuan, up 39 percent over its IPO price.

But Gao Jianping, the bank's chairman, said at the share debut ceremony yesterday that he was satisfied with the stock's price and was optimistic about its future performance.

The bank raised 16 billion yuan by selling 1 billion shares on the Shanghai bourse last month.

It attracted a massive 1.16 trillion yuan in subscriptions, over-subscribed by 73 times, a record for a domestic Chinese IPO, surpassing China Life's 810 billion yuan subscription in December.

But the domestic market began falling soon after the bank's IPO, hit by expectation the government will take measures to cool the market.

"The lower price of the Industrial Bank's shares was influenced by the recent market setback," said She Minhua, a banking analyst from CITIC China Securities.

But a lower than expected price on the first trading day offers potential for investment, he said.

The Industrial Bank has shown relatively good performance, statistics show.

Partly owned by Hang Seng Bank, it had total assets of 532.2 billion yuan by the end of 2006.

It registered a net profit of 1.74 billion yuan in the first half of 2006. Its net profit grew by an average 30 percent annually from 2003 to 2005.

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