Firms now favor home listings, says HKEX boss

The newly-appointed chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) Bonnie Chan Yiting said yesterday companies have tended to float shares in their domestic market recently.

This came as shares of some Hong Kong-listed companies fell on disappointing earnings, with China Mengniu Dairy (2319) plunging nearly 10 percent.

Chan said companies have tended to list in their home markets in recent years and some of the emerging markets in Asia have seen a rise in stock market capitalization. However, she believes that as these companies continue to grow, they may have to seek capital from other markets.

Meanwhile, Tencent (0700) climbed as much as 2.6 percent on continuous repurchases yesterday although the overall local market fell together with A shares on disappointing earnings.

The social media and gaming giant continued its share buyback plan and purchased HK$1 billion worth of shares yesterday. It ended 0.9 percent higher at HK$302 apiece.

Tencent was also reported to have agreed to provide some of its flagship apps on Apple’s Vision Pro, according to The Information. Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook previously revealed the headset will be launched in mainland China this year.

Overall, the Hang Seng Index dropped 225 points, or 1.4 percent to close at 16,392 points yesterday. In the mainland, The Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.3 percent, falling below the key threshold of 3,000 points for the first time since late last month.

Mengniu sank 9.9 percent as its net profit in 2023 dipped 9 percent from a year earlier.

BYD (1211) fell 6.1 percent due to a lower-than-expected net profit last year although the automaker’s net income surged 81 percent in 2023 from a year ago. Chinese data center operator GDS (9698) slumped 26.5 percent on a wider net loss last year.

Alibaba (9988) lost 2.1 percent after it withdrew the initial public offering plan for its Cainiao logistics arm.

Baidu (9888) fell 4.7 percent on a report saying that Apple has not yet reached an agreement with the Chinese search engine giant to enable Baidu to provide artificial intelligence services for Apple’s new products this year.

AIA (1299) declined 3.1 percent although the insurer bought back HK$315 million worth of shares yesterday.

Yesterday’s losses may also be partly due to quarter-end positioning, alongside investors seeking to lighten holdings before holidays in the first week of April.