Long IPO drought ahead for fund managers in Hong Kong

It is looking like a dry summer for Hong Kong bankers, as market woes on the Chinese mainland threaten a revival in the city's new listings.

First-time share sales in the city jumped 50 percent in the six months to June to $17.8 billion, the busiest first half in at least a decade, Bloomberg-compiled data show. Mainland firms traded in Hong Kong entered a bear market this week, hurting potential listings of companies including the first Sino-foreign investment bank and China's biggest convenience store chain.

An IPO drought would deal a blow to investment banks, which have depended on Hong Kong as a major source of fees in Asia this year after the Singapore bourse failed to register a single offering above $25 million.