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Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
Hong Kong has secured the position as the fourth largest IPO venue in the world, according to a report released on Tuesday by Deloitte, one of the four major accounting firms.
Shenzhen, a city neighboring Hong Kong, is listed by the fifth, while Shanghai is ranked the ninth.
During 2012, Hong Kong recorded 62 IPOs, raising HK$89.8 billion, down 31% and 67% from 90 new listings and HK$271.4 billion in 2011 respectively. Total IPO was boosted by new listings in Q4, which composes over 50% of overall volume.
Amid intense competition from other bourses in the region and sluggish global economy, Hong Kong still managed to rise to the fourth place with over half of the IPO proceeds raised in the year coming from the last quarter.
According to Deloitte Analysis, The market sentiment was hammered by the credit downgrade of the Eurozone countries, China's GDP cut and slower-than-expected U.S. economic recovery in the first three quarters, followed by an improvement in the last quarter as the third round of the QE and European Central Bank's Outright Monetary Program were launched.
Following a cooling economy and significant slowdown in listing application review, the two exchanges in Shenzhen and Shanghai recorded 154 new listings in total, raising RMB103.4 billion collectively, a year-on–year decrease of 45% and 63% respectively. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange raised HK$86.0 billion (RMB70.1 billion), while the IPO proceeds raised by Shanghai Stock Exchange were merely HK$40.9 billion (RMB33.3 billion).
"Although Hong Kong had two mega IPOs from Haitong Securities and the People's Insurance Company (Group) of China, its proceeds still lagged behind those of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which had the re-listing of Japan Airlines, the second largest IPO worldwide in 2012," said Edward Au, Co-Leader of the National Public Offering Group of Deloitte China.
Without any heavyweight listings, the IPO funds raised by the two exchanges in Shenzhen and Shanghai shrunk significantly.
"It is a result of lower valuation for A-share IPOs stemmed from market transformation and weak corporate earnings, their respective IPO proceeds can only trail those of Hong Kong," Au added.
In 2013, Hong Kong will continue to be the major fundraising hub for Mainland companies, according to Deloitte. Majorities of the new IPOs would come from small and medium-sized Chinese mainland companies while more international companies are expected to list in Hong Kong. As for the mainland market, about 150 companies are expected to raise approximately RMB100 billion through IPOs, both at about 3% less than those of this year.
Au expressed his cautious optimism towards the outlook of Hong Kong's IPOs in 2013, citing the 'go global' strategy of Mainland companies and China's 12th Five-Year Plan for Financial Sector Development and Reform as the main drivers of the moderate rebound of IPO activities. "In 2013, Hong Kong has a strong potential to become one of the top three global IPO venues again," he said.
Au also pointed out that the reform of the mainland's capital market and the relaxation of the H-share listing requirements will also fuel the prevalent trend of the conversion of B-share companies into H-share, another major market spotlight next year.
"But throughout 2013, the outlook of the A-share IPO market is likely to remain challenging on the back of continuous market transformation," Au said.
