Business

ByteDance has started preparations for its Hong Kong IPO and is likely to file a prospectus in the second quarter assuming the company’s valuation of up to $400 billion (HK$3.12 trillion), about 1.8 times of its competitor Kuaishou, according to media reports. Caixin Global said if the Hong Kong IPO could be successfully launched, ByteDance would be the third most valuable listed company at the Hong Kong stock exchange behind Tencent and Alibaba group. Caixin put the valuation of ByteDance at about US$300 billion (HK$ 2.33 trillion) while Hong Kong and international media reported that it would be up to $400 billion (HK$3.12 trillion). However, ByteDance kept silent on the rumoured listing plan.  The listing of the Beijing-based start-up is expected to include BtyeDance’s most popular mobile applications such as Douyin, news platform Toutiao and video service Xigua. TikTok will probably seek a separate listing since it involves overseas assets, Caixin said. China Securities Journal said that ByteDance had notified the operator of the HKEX that it had appointed securities underwriters on Wednesday but the media took away the story from its website on the same day. According to the HKEX underwriting agreements, firms are required to appoint sponsors and underwriters at least two months ahead of applying for IPO. The latest stock-option price for employees trading their bonuses to ByteDance’s unlisted stocks more than doubled compared with last year to $126 (HK$978.82) per share from under $50 (HK$388.42). The price did not move much from 2019 to 2020 at around $44 (HK$341.81). The prominent rise in internal stock-option price reflects the private equity market’s assessment of the firm’s value in the past 12 months. ByteDance now is the world’s highest-valued unicorn. ByteDance’s rival Kuaishou, with 271 million daily active users, reported revenue of 58.8 billion yuan (HK$ 69.93 billion) …

Chinese online travel giant Trip.com Group Ltd. (9961) is raising as much as $1.4 billion (HK$ 10.9 billion) in its Hong Kong secondary listing, as a rebound in travel may lead to a business revival.  The public offer started on Thursday and would run through Apr.13, with trading expected to start on Apr.19, according to its listing document. The Nasdaq-listed company (Nasdaq: TCOM) is offering 31.6 million shares at a maximum price of HK$333 apiece. That's a premium of 11% to its closing price of $38.55 (HK$ 299.88) on Nasdaq on Thursday. Each Trip.com's American depositary receipt represents one ordinary share to be listed in Hong Kong. "Trip.com's secondary listing in Hong Kong could increase cash flow, diversify risk and attract more Asian investors amid growing tensions between China and the U.S.," said Zhang Xiao, an analyst from Great Wall Securities. "The domestic tourism is recovering strongly and the global tourism will gradually recover as more people having vaccinations. This will boost investor confidence and bring more opportunities for Trip.com to increase its market value." The Shanghai-based company is among the growing cohort of U.S.-listed Chinese firms to carry out homecoming listings, including search giant Baidu which is Ctrip's single largest shareholder holding a stake of 11.5%. Total fundraising via new share listings in Hong Kong surged 822% to a record high in the first quarter. Trip.com provides comprehensive travel products and services on its global one-stop travel platform, generating revenues primarily from the accommodation reservation and transportation ticketing businesses. Due to the severe impact of COVID-19 on the global tourism industry, the company's revenue in 2020 plunged 49% to 18.3 billion yuan (HK$ 21.74 billion), according to the prospectus. It also saw a loss of 3.3 billion yuan (HK$ 3.92 billion) after making a profit of 7 billion yuan …

Bilibili (9626) was rated ‘buy’ by Goldman Sachs on Thursday and with the stock expected to increase by 40% to HK$1,219 a share, compared to the current stock price of HK$870, due to its large and fast-growing user base and strong revenue.  IPOs in the Hong Kong stock market often have potential first-day rallies, but Bilibili’s stock price dropped 3.6% from an HK$808 issue price to HK$780 at its trading debut on Monday. The recent global declines in technology stocks and China’s crackdown on the country’s technology conglomerates put heavy pressure on Bilibili. Goldman Sachs said as the online video sharing and streaming platform with the most Generation Z users, Bilibili was expected to see its monthly active users to reach 400 million before 2023.  Besides, Bilibili has high quality and abundant content which are the fundamental elements for expanding its users. Bilibili also adopts multiple liquidity strategies which can generate more revenues. Bilibili’s revenues are mainly generated from mobile games, value-added services, advertising, and e-commerce and others. Its revenue in 2020 increased by 77% to 12 billion yuan (HK$ 14.3 billion) according to its prospectus. Monthly average users reached 202 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 55% over the same period in 2019. Guosheng Securities also gave a buy recommendation to Bilibili, according to an analyst report released on March 29, expecting the company to continue expanding its commercialization. Goldman Sachs affirms Bilibili’s community value and its understanding towards Generation Z in encouraging them to join the activities in Bilibili community in its report. The investment bank also said Bilibili has chosen a clear company development path and hopes it can keep thriving. Bilibili is building a video content ecosystem by providing various video content in satisfying its audiences’ entertainment, cartoon, technology and life skills viewing demand. …

Standing in the spotlight, Connie Hung enthusiastically sold a range of products to more than 30,000 people watching her live streaming. "Our products are of high quality and low price. Don't hesitate to buy them," said Ms Hung, a former insurance broker and veteran marketer. Numerous messages concerning the products pop up continuously from the viewers. In this Facebook Live with Group Buyer, one of the most popular group-buying websites in Hong Kong, Ms Hung pitched the company's products, mainly daily groceries, and the two hours’ sales exceeded the company's sales volume for three days. "More and more merchants are willing to come to me to do live streaming for their products because it can save the high cost of online advertising," said Ms Hung. "Every live streaming is watched by tens of thousands of people. Through interaction with fans, the sales are much higher than just advertising," she said. More Hongkongers like Ms Hung are becoming livestreamers, jumping on the new e-commerce bandwagon to tap into the profit as COVID-19 lingering and more brick-and-mortar stores sorting alternative ways to stay afloat. China’s live-streaming craze Influencer streaming has first shown prosperity in the mainland and has already become a new normal in China retail industry. According to iiMedia Research, the market size of the country’s live streaming e-commerce reached 961 billion yuan (HK$1.15 trillion) in 2020, with a year-on-year growth of 121.5%. As of June 2020, China has 309 million live-streaming consumers, accounting for about a third of its internet population. During the live interactive online video shopping, the influencer, as a host, hawks on viewers by introducing products and services, meanwhile adding non-shopping contents to make the whole session attractive. They will also answer viewers’ questions on-site and many offer exclusive discounts to lure customers. The top influencers such …

Chineses video-sharing platform Bilibili Inc. (9626) planned to raise as much as $3.2 billion (HK$ 24.85 billion) in its secondary listing in Hong Kong, while the recent corrections in the market may force the company to price the stock below its maximum offering price. The public offer commenced on Thursday and would run through Mar.23, with trading expected to start on Mar.29, its listing document said. The Shanghai-based Bilibili, backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., went public on Nasdaq in March 2018 (Nasdaq: BILI). Its 25 million Hong Kong shares are on offer at a maximum price of HK$988 apiece, 16.9% higher than its U.S. stock closing price of $108.82 (HK$ 845.18) on Thursday. Each American depositary receipt represents one ordinary share to be listed in Hong Kong. "Recent declines in the share prices of many US technology stocks and the volatility in the Hong Kong stock market could depress Bilibili's final price," said Wang Hui, a portfolio manager at Haitong Securities. "The final offer price will have a lot to do with the value of Bilibili’s American Depositary Receipts in the coming week, as well as the investor demand level." Baidu, another technology stock listed in the U.S, just completed its Hong Kong IPO on March 17. It initially priced its shares at HK$295 based on the average trading price of its US stocks in the previous period of time. But eventually, Baidu cut its offer price by 14.6% to HK$252 due to the recent decline in its US share price. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.5% from its 2021 high of 14,175.12 to close at 13,116.17 overnight. The Hang Seng Index closed at 29,405.72 on Wednesday, down 5.7% from its 2021 peak of 31,183.36. Bilibili generates its revenues primarily from mobile games, value-added services, …

Baidu Inc. (9888), China's search engine giant, plans to issue 95 million shares at a maximum global offering price of $38 (HK$295) each, raising up to $3.6 billion (HK$28 billion) in a Hong Kong offering starting today till 12:00 noon on Mar. 17. Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) shares, which were listed on the Nasdaq in August 2005 in terms of American Depositary Shares (ADSs), increased 12% to $272.38 (HK$2113.82) overnight boosted by its secondary listing plan in Hong Kong. Each ADS represents eight ordinary shares to be listed in Hong Kong. The ADS hit a record of  $339.91 (HK$2637.33) on Feb. 19. The company will sell a total of 95 million shares under the global offering.  The final pricing of Hong Kong shares will be fixed on Mar. 17. Dealing in shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is scheduled to start at 9 am on Mar. 23, Baidu said in its listing document. Baidu generated a net income of 22.5 billion yuan (HK$ 26.92 billion), 2.1 yuan billion (HK$ 2.51 billion), and 27.6 billion yuan (HK$33.02 billion) in 2020, 2019, and 2018 respectively.  The 21-year-old company has three main growth engines: mobile ecosystem, AI cloud and intelligent driving. The core of Baidu Mobile Ecosystem is Baidu App with a monthly active user of 544 million in December 2020. “We intend to pursue the following strategies to further grow our business:  continue to invest in technology; continue to scale our AI Cloud; further develop and commercialize intelligent driving and other growth initiatives; continue to grow our Mobile Ecosystem; and selectively pursue M&A and strategic investments,” said in its prospectus. Baidu’s listing will make it one of the Chinese technology companies that are listed in the US and have secondary offerings in Hong Kong, joining Alibaba, JD.com and NetEase. The joint sponsors of …

Hong Kong was excluded for the first time by an influential index that ranks the freedom of the world’s economies while the city’s official and scholar said the move was based on “political bias” and would not affect the economic development of Hong Kong. Hong Kong and Macau were removed from The Heritage Foundation's 2021 Index of Economic Freedom released on Thursday. Before that, the city was ranked as the world’s freest economies for 25 years straight before 2020 when it was taken over by Singapore, which also topped the list this year. "Developments in Hong Kong and Macau in recent years have demonstrated unambiguously that the policies are ultimately controlled from Beijing,” said Heritage Foundation in its report. The Washington-based research and educational institution said classifying Hong Kong and Macau economies under China was a reflection of Beijing’s “ultimate control” over the cities. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the move made by The Heritage Foundation was unjustified. During a webinar organised by the South China Morning Post, Mr Chan said, “It seems to me when they arrived at that decision, it must have been clouded by their ideological inclination and political bias.”  A Hong Kong Government spokesperson said Heritage Foundation’s ranking is ill-conceived in the press release yesterday. "We take strong exception to the Foundation's claim that Hong Kong's economic policies are 'ultimately controlled from Beijing,” Hong Kong government spokesperson added in the press release. The Heritage Foundation’s ranking cannot be valid, because it was evaluated from a different perspective, it should not be generalised as a whole, said Dr Chong Tai-Leung, the director of Economics and Executive Director of Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Fraser Institute of Canada ranked Hong Kong as the world’s freest …