HKEX Ranked Fourth Globally in New Share Fundraising

Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s (HKEX) new share fundraising in the first quarter of 2025 increased 2.9 times y-o-y to $2.48 billion with 15 new listings and has been ranked fourth globally, according to tech and strategy consulting firm Deloitte, which expects 80 new listings on HKEX this year, with a total fundraising amount between $17.7 billion and $20.4 billion.

The two US bourses – Nasdaq and NYSE led the world by raising $5.38 billion and $4.01 billion with 49 and 11 new listings respectively – and were followed by Tokyo Stock Exchange, which raised $3.46 billion with 15 new listings.

The National Stock Exchange of India raised $2.31 billion with 35 new listings. In all, the number of global IPOs was 283, flat y-o-y, raising $28.2 billion, up 4% y-o-y.

Ou Zhenxing, managing partner of Deloitte China’s South China region, said that with the recovery of Hong Kong stocks, it is expected that there will be 4 to 5 large-scale new stocks raising more than $1 billion this year, and there will also be IPOs worth billions of dollars listed in Hong Kong.

He said that the market expects China’s battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL), which has been registered with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, will be listed as early as this quarter.

As for other large new stocks, Deloitte expects them to come from large A-shares, leading mainland companies, secondary listings of companies in the Middle East and ASEAN countries, artificial intelligence, medical and pharmaceutical industries, etc.

Looking back at the performance in the first quarter, there were 15 new listings on HKEX, an increase of 25% y-o-y, including seven companies that have already been listed on the A-share market in the Mainland, involving a fundraising amount of $1.35 billion.

Strong Momentum

The Hong Kong’s IPO market continued its strong momentum in the first quarter, with transactions and valuations improving. The price-to-earnings ratio of the Hong Kong main board was 13 times, which was narrowing and converging with the A-shares in the Mainland.

In addition, with the support of national policies, the amount of new stock financing has increased significantly compared with the same period last year.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange welcomed the listing of JX Metals, a chip raw material supplier, with a single transaction raising a total of $3.16 billion, and the remaining 14 new stocks raised smaller amounts of funds.

As mainland China slowed down the approval of new shares, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange ranked 9^th and 10^th respectively, with 15 and 9 new shares and a fundraising amount of $1.28 billion.

According to Deloitte statistics, HKEX was processing 104 listing applications, a y-o-y increase of 42% and in the first quarter of this year alone, it had received 56 listing applications, a y-o-y increase of 56%.

Zhenxing mentioned that it took CATL only 25 days from submitting its application to the HKEX to receiving the approval of the registration notice from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which was significantly faster than in the past.

He said that foreign capital continued to flow into Hong Kong stocks in recent months and market liquidity has improved significantly.