Hong Kong bourse still loses to New York in IPO funds raised in Q1

Total funds raised hit $24.4b which is nearly a quarter of NYSE's overall IPO proceeds.

Hong Kong failed to clinch the top spot in terms of total funds raised via IPO as 62 new listings in the Main Board and the GEM only recorded a combined $24.4b in Q1 to slump to the fourth spot in the global rankings, according to a report from accounting firm KPMG. 

Public listings at the Main Board surged 83% YoY to $22.1b in Q1 whilst GEM listings rose 77% to $2.3b raised over the same period.

Traditional sectors like the financial services and real estate industries continued their dominance at the top 10 largest IPOs led by the public listing of the Bank of Gansu who raised $6.8b followed by Zhenro Properties and A-Living Services who raised $4.5b and $4.1b respectively.

However, such momentum failed to topple the dominance of the New York Stock Exchange which raised a whopping $82.3b in Q1, a figure almost four times than the funds raised by the local bourse. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange followed at second place in the list of the top performing global stock exchanges for Q1 after raising $42b followed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange at $24.4b. 

Also read: Hong Kong IPO proceeds fall 34% in 2017 due to lack of mega listings

Nonetheless, Hong Kong markets might have a chance to rebound and move up the rankings in the coming quarters as the conclusion of massive reform initiatives are projected to be announced by April and listings from “new economy” companies in the Mainland may come as early as Q2.

Also read: Hong Kong poised to top global IPO market in 2018 

“In addition to the interest from mainland China companies that are technology or internet-related, we are also seeing tremendous interest from biotech firms to list in Hong Kong, driven by the proposed new chapter in the Main Board specifically for the sector,” said KPMG China Head of Capital Markets Development Group Maggie Lee.