Chart Events
Performance Outlook
| Previous Close | 385.400 |
| Open | 387.200 |
| Bid | 386.000 x 0 |
| Ask | 386.200 x 0 |
| Day's Range | 383.000 - 389.000 |
| 52 Week Range | 206.000 - 398.400 |
| Volume | 3,306,955 |
| Avg. Volume | 4,451,362 |
| Market Cap | 489.64B |
| Beta (5Y Monthly) | 1.11 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 51.56 |
| EPS (TTM) | 7.490 |
| Earnings Date | Feb 24, 2021 - Mar 01, 2021 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 6.70 (1.74%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | Sep 01, 2020 |
| 1y Target Est | 283.00 |
- South China Morning Post
Only the best need apply: HKEX may triple its profit bar to let only the most profitable list in world's fourth-biggest capital market
Hong Kong's stock exchange may drastically raise the profit threshold for listings on its main board, implementing the most stringent requirements to improve the quality of companies seeking initial public offerings in the world's fourth-largest capital market.Two options are being offered for public feedback through February 1, according to a statement by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) Limited, the exchange operator. The first option triples the profit requirement to at least HK$150 million (US$19.3 million) in the three years leading up to a listing. The profit requirement will also triple to HK$60 million in the most recent financial year.The second option increases the three-year profit requirement to HK$125 million, while the most recent year requirement rises to HK$50 million, HKEX said.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China."The proposal is part of our ongoing commitment to enhance market quality and to strengthen further Hong Kong's role as Asia's premier international financial centre," Bonnie Chan, head of listing at HKEX, said in a statement.Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's Head of Listing Bonnie Chan has unveiled a proposal to increase profit requirement for new listing. Photo: Winson Wong alt=Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's Head of Listing Bonnie Chan has unveiled a proposal to increase profit requirement for new listing. Photo: Winson WongThe proposed thresholds would make HKEX the toughest exchange to qualify for a listing, more so than on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq, and knock out 62 per cent of the 745 companies that listed on Hong Kong's main board by following the listing requirements between 2016 and 2019, according to exchange data.The plan is part of the move by Hong Kong's financial regulators to clean up the market to deter listings by so-called shell companies that inflate their profitability. The stock exchange's main board has been crowned the world's largest initial public offering market seven times over the past 11 years. Capitalised at US$6.3 trillion, Hong Kong is the world's fourth-largest capital market after the US, mainland China and Japan.The HKEX promised to not introduce the new rule before July 2021, subject to public feedback, to allow companies to prepare for it. It may also consider discretionary waivers for companies affected by the coronavirus pandemic on merit, HKEX said.The proposed changes will almost certainly weed out the smaller companies - typically from Hong Kong - seeking to raise capital, in favour of applicants from mainland China with deep pockets, private equity backing or the financial muscles of the government, brokers said."The new rules may help to improve market quality, but they will mean many small companies in Hong Kong cannot raise funds on the main board," said Gordon Tsui Luen-on, chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Association, an industry guild. "It is worrying that HKEX is only interested in attracting listings by mainland China's new-economy giants, and is neglecting the fundraising needs of local companies."The proposed change in profit requirement will be HKEX's first since 1994, when the rule was introduced. It increased the minimum market capitalisation requirement for listings in 2018, from HK$200 million to HK$500 million. Since then, an increasing number of companies have only marginally passed its profit test. The increase in profit requirement is appropriate after the rule change for market caps, HKEX said.The raised profit requirement will also widen the gap between the main board and GEM, the exchange's secondary board for growth companies and start-ups. The GEM, formerly known as the Growth Enterprise Market, does not have a profit requirement, and Chan said the proposed change would "offer issuers clearer choice and investors greater clarity".This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong to launch Synapse platform in 2022 to ease settlement process for overseas investors trading Chinese shares via stock connects
Bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will launch Synapse, a new settlement platform, in 2022 to help international investors settle mainland Chinese trades according to the country's "tough" settlement requirements.Synapse will standardise and streamline settlement workflows for international investors when they trade mainland shares listed in Shanghai or Shenzhen through the two stock connect schemes linking these markets with Hong Kong.The platform will allow fund managers, stockbrokers, global and local custodians to interact with each other on an electronic network, so that they have to hire fewer people and incur lower costs to settle trades according to China's settlement requirements.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.Currently, international investors need to hire more people to settle trades involving mainland Chinese shares, as Beijing requires all stock trading to be settled within the same day of the transaction. This is called "T+0" and is tougher settlement cycle. Internationally, settlements can be made two days after a transaction, or T+2."The T+0 rule in China is a very tough requirement. Many international investors need to hire more people to meet the tight settlement time," Glenda So, head of post trade at HKEX, said during an online media briefing on Tuesday. "Some international investors avoid investing in mainland markets due to this stringent settlement requirement."Glenda So, head of post trade at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Photo: Handout alt=Glenda So, head of post trade at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Photo: HandoutThe new platform will save time and human resources for such investors, and will encourage others to trade mainland Chinese shares via the two stock connects, she added."Synapse is our latest stock connect innovation, and will be of major benefit to global investors when they trade through the northbound stock connect," said Charles Li Xiaojia, HKEX's chief executive.Fund managers have welcomed the move. "The stock connects have virtually become the channel of choice for many international investors," said Sally Wong, the chief executive of Hong Kong Investment Association. "Any initiative that can enhance the efficiency of the investment cycle and enable better risk management is welcomed by investors." Hong Kong is the key to unlock China's stocks, Charles Li saysThe planned launch of Synapse came as international investment in mainland A shares through Hong Kong reported a record turnover.The average daily turnover from northbound trading - buying of Chinese stocks by international investors - reached 90 billion yuan (US$13.6 billion) in the first nine months of this year, doubling from a year earlier, according to HKEX's third-quarter result announcement this month.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong stock exchange aims to modernise IPO process, slashing times for debutants to list as it strives to protect global crown
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is proposing a revamp that would drastically speed up the process of initial public offerings, helping the city maintain its edge as a hub for stock market listings.The modernisation would involve replacing time-consuming paper subscriptions with an electronic system that would cut the so-called IPO settlement process by 80 per cent and bring the city's stock market in line with its counterparts in the US and Europe.The proposal would digitalise the IPO process with a new platform called Fast Interface for New Issuance (FINI), according to a statement released by HKEX, the bourse operator, on Monday. If it gets the go-ahead as scheduled in the second quarter of 2022, it will allow companies, regulators, bankers and brokers to interact when handling the entire settlement process.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.It would shorten the settlement process - the gap between the pricing of an IPO and its trading date - from five business days to just one day."The new proposal will enhance market efficiency and reduce market risks," said Tom Chan Pak-lam, chairman of the Institute of Securities Dealers, an industry body for local stockbrokers.HKEX is collecting views on the idea until January 15, it said in the statement.It is the latest effort by the HKEX to boost its IPO credentials, after it lost the jumbo IPO of Ant Group earlier this month. The bourse, which has been the largest IPO market worldwide seven times in the past 11 years, introduced sweeping listing reforms in 2018, which have attracted more tech giants with multiple classes of voting rights, as well as pre-profit biotech firms.However, the logistics of the IPO process has not changed in more than two decades.Charles Li Xiaojia, chief executive of HKEX, proposes introducing a new IPO settlement platform in 2022. Photo: Xiaomei Chen alt=Charles Li Xiaojia, chief executive of HKEX, proposes introducing a new IPO settlement platform in 2022. Photo: Xiaomei Chen"For the last decade, Hong Kong has been the IPO capital of the world. It is vitally important that we continue to protect our global leadership position in the next decade and beyond by innovating and advancing our market infrastructure," said Charles Li Xiaojia, the outgoing chief executive of HKEX, who will step down next month."FINI will secure our continued attractiveness and competitiveness as the global listing market of choice and we look forward to working with the Hong Kong IPO community on this exciting initiative," he said in Monday's statement.An increasing number of US-listed technology firms are likely to follow in the footsteps of Alibaba Group Holding to launch a secondary listing in Hong Kong, making it even more important for HKEX to shorten the IPO settlement period, Li said during a teleconference on Monday. Alibaba owns the Post."After this reform goes ahead, Hong Kong will leapfrog all other exchanges globally to have the shortest IPO settlement cycle," Li said. While he did not disclose how much users will need to pay for using this platform, he said, "people can expect not to spend too much money".The advantage of the new platform is that retail investors can pay after the allotment, instead of having to pay in full in advance for the shares they want. Their brokers would only need to pay a 10 per cent deposit at the time of subscription under the proposal.At present, many retail investors who subscribe to Hong Kong listings prefer to apply by post with an accompanying cheque, even though online services are available. The process is labour intensive, requiring staff to handle physical forms, cheques, oversee refunds and distribute share certificates.The manual processing of retail investors' subscriptions is one reason a typical flotation takes five days to settle in Hong Kong, a system known as "T+5", as shares in the city can only start trading five days after the subscription period ends.The proposed reform would allow Hong Kong to catch up with many markets in Britain, the US and continental Europe that enable trading within one day of the close of subscription, a process known as "T+1".The proposed FINI would handle everything from regulators' approval and investors subscriptions to pricing and share allotment - all the steps preceding a newly listed company being ready to "strike the gong" to mark its trading debut on the exchange."The new move is welcomed by listed companies as it will help speed up the IPO process," said Mike Wong Ming-wai, chief executive of the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies.However, Chan of the Institute of Securities Dealers, sounded a word of warning."It may hurt many of the stockbrokers as it will cut down the interest income from IPO loans after shortening the settlement time," he said.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
