The pricing of Contemporary Amperex Technology’s (CATL) Hong Kong shares at the top end of the range bodes well for China’s leading companies eyeing a listing in the city, but the richly valued offer price may hurt the stock’s first-day performance due to its smaller-than-average discount to the company’s mainland-traded shares.
Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, reaffirmed the support for high-quality Chinese companies to list in the city last week, showcasing Beijing’s resolve to solidify Hong Kong’s position as a top global financial centre amid an all-out confrontation with the US. The Hong Kong stock exchange also said that it would fast-track approvals for dual listings.
CATL’s listing “is actually one of the major measures to support Hong Kong’s equity market, and one of the ways to help Chinese leading companies to capture more international funds”, said Jason Chan, an equity strategist at Bank of East Asia in Hong Kong.
CATL’s offer price is 6.5 per cent below the close of 259.36 yuan for its Shenzhen-listed shares on Friday. That compares with the average 25 per cent discount for the Hong Kong-traded shares of the 158 dual-listed Chinese companies, such as ICBC and Ping An Insurance Group.
