Investor Relations

1. Chinese electronics chain Gome Retail seeks US$574 million from sale of new shares as disgraced founder Huang Guangyu vows to restore its former glory

   Chinese electronics chain Gome Retail is seeking to raise HK$4.45 billion (US$573.7 million) from the sale of new shares after its founder Huang Guangyu pledged to return his company to its former glory after completing his parole last month.Gome Retail said it plans to place 2.28 billion shares, or 10.58 per cent of its existing shares, at HK$1.97 per share to repay debt and to expand its online and offline dual-platform business, in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday.The…

2. Outlook for major Hong Kong developers still gloomy as Covid-19 travel restrictions batter hotel, shopping mall businesses

   There is still no light at the end of the tunnel for Hong Kong’s major property developers after a painful year in which their hotel and retail businesses took a particular drubbing, according to analysts and industry figures.Three of the city’s biggest commercial property landlords revealed sizeable falls in profit for 2020 as travel restrictions kept visitors at bay and brought the city’s economy to a virtual standstill.“Various domestic and external challenges will continue to weigh on the…

3. China’s stock fund with 132 per cent returns bets on new-energy market leaders that foreign investors are missing out

   Foreign investors cannot ignore the biggest players at the forefront of the nation’s push into new-energy industries, a Chinese asset manager said after making more than 130 per cent gain in 2020.Locally-listed shares of new-energy vehicle (NEV) makers, renewable energy generators and their suppliers, for example, are expected to be in demand and likely become major targets for offshore investors, according to Li You, a money manager at Shenzhen-based TruValue Asset Management.“If foreign…

4. HKEX taps JPMorgan’s Nicolas Aguzin as chief executive to helm the world’s most valuable stock market operator

   Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), the world’s most valuable bourse operator, has appointed one of JPMorgan Chase & Co’s top private bankers as its chief executive, at a time when southbound capital flows from mainland China play an outsized role in the city’s financial market.A selection committee chose JPMorgan’s Nicolas Aguzin to lead the bourse, succeeding Charles Li Xiaojia – a former banker from the same US bank – in the role, according to an HKEX announcement. The role,…

5. Alibaba’s bond sale attracts US$38 billion worth of orders as investors shrug off antitrust fears and look to future of China’s booming e-commerce industry

   Alibaba Group Holding’s US$5 billion bond attracted an avalanche of orders from fixed-income investors, peaking at US$38 billion, on growing confidence that the e-commerce behemoth will emerge relatively unscathed from an antitrust investigation.The scramble to buy the bonds allowed the platform company to sell its new dollar-denominated debt at a more advantageous price than initially expected, according to people familiar with the transaction.The vote of confidence in Alibaba’s long-term…

6. Hainan Airlines slumps by close to daily limit in Shanghai after it warns of a loss of as much as US$10.06 billion

   Shares of Hainan Airlines Holding plunged on Monday after the company said that it expected to post an annual loss of as much as US$10.06 billion, as its parent HNA Group’s bankruptcy restructuring has caused its assets to depreciate significantly.The Shanghai-listed firm finished the day 9.8 per cent lower at 1.38 yuan, close to the daily cap of 10 per cent.The largest private airline in China said in an exchange filing on Saturday that its projected loss for 2020 could reach between 58…

7. China FDI rose to record level in 2020 despite coronavirus, fastest growth rate in five years

   Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China rose to a record high in 2020 by posing the fastest growth rate in five years despite the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.FDI in US dollar terms – excluding financial sectors such as banking, securities and insurance sectors – grew to US$144.37 billion last year, the highest level since records began in 1983, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.This represented an increase of 4.5 per cent from 2019 – the fourth consecutive year of…

8. Hong Kong-listed Chinese restaurant operator Jiumaojiu is betting on younger consumers for growth in 2021

   Guangzhou-based restaurants operator Jiumaojiu International Holdings is pivoting to younger consumers, as it emerges from the economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The company, whose shares debuted in Hong Kong in January last year following a HK$2.08 billion (US$267.4 million) initial public offering (IPO), will double down on its Tai Er restaurants, which specialise in pickled sauerkraut fish and are popular among younger consumers. Jiumaojiu plans to open 100 to 120 Tai Er…

9. China tried to punish European states for Huawei bans by adding eleventh-hour rule to EU investment deal

   At the eleventh hour of its painstakingly negotiated investment deal with the European Union, China tried to add a clause that would have frozen some of the benefits for EU states that restricted access for Huawei Technologies Co. and other Chinese telecoms firms, according documents reviewed by the South China Morning Post.The insertion appeared in a draft negotiating text dated December 11, just weeks before the parties finalised their bilateral investment pact, but was struck-through by EU…

10. Tesla makes record deliveries in fourth quarter, but falls just short of the 500,000 target set for 2020

    Tesla delivered a record number of cars worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2020, but fell just shy of a goal for 500,000 units for the full year.The electric car maker delivered 180,570 vehicles in the last three months of the year, eclipsing its earlier all-time high of 139,300 in the third quarter of 2020 while increasing 36 per cent to 499,550 from 367,500 deliveries in 2019. The company has been ramping up output of its mass market models to meet rising global demand for battery-powered…