Hong Kong drops to 7th spot on global IPO venue ranking as fundraising plunges 52 per cent in first quarter: Refinitiv
- A total of 17 Hong Kong IPOs raised US$837 million, the worst first-quarter performance since 2009 amid the Global Financial Crisis
- Second-half activity will rise as several tech firms, including the operator of Lalamove and units of JD.com, have filed for listings, a broker says
Funds raised from new share listings in Hong Kong in the first quarter plummeted 52 per cent year on year, pushing the city to seventh place on a global ranking of venues for initial public offerings (IPOs), but some analysts expect a rebound later this year.
A total of 17 companies raised US$837 million via IPOs in the first quarter in Hong Kong, according to Refinitiv data as of Friday. That is the lowest quarterly total since the second quarter of last year when funding fell to US$590 million as the city faced the fifth wave of Covid-19. It is also the worst first-quarter total since the first three months of 2009 amid the Global Financial Crisis.
“The market sentiment in the first quarter was full of uncertainties, so companies preferred to hold up their deals,” said Louis Tse Ming-kwong, managing director at Wealthy Securities.
“The high inflation and interest rate rises in the US and Europe, as well as the recent banking crisis all led to a quiet IPO market in Hong Kong and other markets.”
Shenzhen’s ChiNext was the top market globally in the first quarter, with 19 IPOs raising US$4.62 billion, but even its proceeds dropped 45 per cent from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv.
