Hong Kong's exchange operator is upbeat about IPO activity in the territory as interest in equity markets rises.
New listings in Hong Kong raised a cumulative HK$55.6 billion in the nine months to Sept. 30, compared with HK$46.3 billion for full-year 2023, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) said Oct. 23 in its third-quarter earnings statement.
Listings this year include the HK$31 billion, or US$3.99 billion, IPO of Chinese home-appliance maker Midea Group Co. Ltd. in September, which was the second-largest IPO globally in 2024.
"The recent listing on the [HKEX] of Asia's largest and the world's second-biggest IPO this year, along with the strength of follow-on offering volumes, underscore the depth and attractiveness of our markets," HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan said in a results release. "[A] healthy listing pipeline reinforces our position as the region’s IPO fundraising center of choice."
As of Sept. 30, there were 96 active applicants in the IPO pipeline, compared with 107 three months ago, the HKEX statement said.
Growing interest
In March, the CSRC triggered a decline in IPO activity across the country's bourses after announcing rules to improve the quality of new listings and enhance the responsibilities of sponsors and exchanges. Authorities have announced a stimulus package, including steps to ease the mortgage interest burden on home buyers and increase liquidity for banks, while the central bank made further cuts to benchmark interest rates to boost the economy.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu unveiled plans to boost the number of stock listings from international and large-scale mainland Chinese enterprises, including optimizing approval procedures, in a Sept. 16 policy address.
Mainland Chinese companies experiencing heightened IPO scrutiny on mainland bourses are increasingly attracted to a Hong Kong listing and are likely to fuel the overall IPO activity in Hong Kong, Robert Lui, southern region Hong Kong offering services leader at Deloitte China, told S&P Global Market Intelligence at a Sept. 25 conference.
As many as 40 of the new listings in Hong Kong this year were from the mainland. This week alone, China Resources Beverage (Holdings) Co. Ltd. raised HK$5.04 billion, and shares in the mainland China-based bottled water manufacturer rose 15% in its Oct. 23 debut. Beijing-based autonomous driving firm Horizon Robotics raised HK$5.41 billion.
Hong Kong shares jumped in late-September, reviving interest in equities. The territory's benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 26% in two weeks to a 32-month high of 23,241 by early October. Deloitte expects HKEX to close 2024 with about 80 IPOs, with aggregate funds raised of between HK$60 billion and HK$80 billion.
HKEX earned HK$3.15 billion in net profit in the third quarter of 2024, up 7% from a year ago. This was driven by the 3% year-over-year increase in revenue to HK$4.85 billion, according to the results release. The results were largely in line with the analyst estimates compiled by Market Intelligence, which indicated a net income of HK$3.14 billion for the quarter.