Hong Kong ranks 4th largest IPO venue in 2012

HongKong has secured the position as the world's fourth largest initial public offering ( IPO) listing venue in 2012, according to figures released on Tuesday by Deloitte, one of the Big Four professional services firms. Amid slower IPO activities in the first three quarters and intense competition from other bourses in the region, Hong Kong still managed to rise to the fourth place with over half of the IPO proceeds raised in the year coming from the last quarter, said Deloitte. The figures showed that Hong Kong in 2012 recorded 62 IPOs, raising 89.8 billion HK dollars (about 11.6 billion U.S. dollars), down 31 percent and 67 percent from 90 new listings and 271.4 billion HK dollars in 2011 respectively. The market sentiment was hammered by the credit downgrade of the eurozone countries, China's GDP cut and slower-than-expected U.S. economic recovery in the first three quarters. However, more listings were recorded in the last quarter of 2012 as the monetary easing policies were launched in the United States and Europe. The New York Stock Exchange led the worldwide IPO marketing in 2012. NASDAQ secured the second place, followed by Tokyo Stock Exchange. According to Deloitte's forecast, Hong Kong will continue to be the major fundraising hub for Chinese mainland companies in 2013. Majorities of the new IPOs would come from small and medium-sized mainland companies while more international companies are expected to list in Hong Kong. The city is expected to see 70 to 80 new listings, raising around 100 to 150 billion HK dollars. On the back of China's 12th Five-Year Plan and policies that drive new urbanization and domestic demand, majority of the proceeds would come from financial service institutes, such as city commercial banks, and companies from infrastructure-related and retail and consumer sectors. "In 2013, Hong Kong has a strong potential to become one of the top three global IPO venues again. We think the recent relaxation of the H-share listing requirements for mainland companies would spur some of the A-share IPO applicants to switch to list on the Main Board of Hong Kong," said Edward Au, co-leader of National Public Offering Group of Deloitte China. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7. 75 HK dollars)