Financial Results
PwC Sees HK$200 Billion In Funds Raised In Hong Kong Stock Market During 2015
The Hong Kong stock market should raise HK$200 billion (around $26 billion) during 2015 as the city’s position as a capital-raising platform for the Chinese mainland develops, predicts PwC. Some HK$228 billion was raised last year.
The Hong Kong stock market should raise HK$200 billion (around $26 billion) during 2015 as the city’s position as a capital-raising platform for the Chinese mainland develops, predicts PricewaterhouseCoopers. The firm expects 120 new companies to list in the city this year.
If PwC's prediction is borne out, that result would be a fall from the HK227.8 billion raised in 2014, according to a statement from the professional services firm.
The Asian financial and banking hub has not always had an easy ride recently – it missed out on the world’s single-largest liquidity event in 2014 when Asian e-commerce giant Alibaba chose to list in New York rather than Hong Kong. Recent data exclusively collected for this publication (see here) has shown a mixed pattern for initial public offerings over a certain minimum threshold size in Hong Kong.
However, it appears there is some confidence about Hong Kong at a time when the city is bedding in its recently-launched stock market link with Shanghai, the so-called “Through Train”.
PwC said it expects 100 listings on Hong Kong’s main board and 20 on the GEM board of the stock exchange.
Last year, PwC said some HK$227.8 billion was raised, representing an increase of 33 per cent on the HK$171.3 billion raised the year before. Last year saw 122 new listings (vs. 112 in 2013).
“The positive momentum that started in the second half of 2013 carried through to 2014. Although the IPO market slowed down slightly in the second quarter because of geopolitical and other concerns, it bounced back in the second half,” Benson Wong, assurance partner, PwC Hong Kong, said.
“Ample funds in the Hong Kong and overseas markets, together with steady data coming out of the US and China, gave a further boost to new listings in the second half. A number of mega-sized IPOs – those raising over HK$10 billion each – were also successfully launched,” he said.
