By
Temitope Olatunji
March 28th, 2024
NetEase shares have had a good day in Hong Kong already as the company has successfully listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Shares closed 6% higher on the first day of trading.
As the world returns to some normalcy after a dull period because of the coronavirus, some companies have begun to bounce back. One of those, NetEase Inc (HKG: 9999) has set a great pace for itself as it listed for the first time in Hong Kong. On June 11, Hong Kong’s first trading day, NetEase shares rose impressively.
NetEase successfully completed a secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company priced its shares at 123 Hong Kong dollars – $15.87 – each, when trading began. Interestingly, by the end of the trading day, the price climbed and closed at 130 Hong Kong dollars, signifying an increase of 5.6%. Impressively, at the highest point of the day, it rose more than 8%.
NetEase Shares on Secondary Listing
The trade was a secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, more than 20 years after the company first listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker NTES, back in 2000. The secondary listing successfully pulled in $21.09 billion Hong Kong dollars, roughly $2.7 billion USD.
According to a report from the South China Morning Post, NetEase shares from this secondary offering were more than 360 times oversubscribed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. In comparison, Alibaba Group Holdings’ Initial Public Offering (IPO) was 40 times oversubscribed. NetEase has now decided to spike its allocation to retail investors to 20.58 million shares. Previously at a 5.15 million allocation, the increase is due to the impressive demand for the shares.
Speaking on the development, a KGI Securities strategist said it’s a good move for the tech sector in Hong Kong. According to him, there will be more attention on the Hong Kong tech scene.
“Listings of more Chinese tech companies in Hong Kong will help attract more capitals and boost valuations there. That’ll also cement Hong Kong’s status as a financial centre in the world.”
NetEase So Far
NetEase is a Chinese internet giant, widely regarded as Tencent’s major competition in the country’s online gaming business. Founded in 1997, NetEase went public on the Nasdaq in 2000. Its decision to list in Hong Kong might be born out of the general tension between the U.S. and China.
As these tensions have been rising for months, both sides have been quite touched on each other. Authorities in the United States have largely been making moves to restrict major Chinese companies from Wall Street activity. As these problems worsened, internet giant Alibaba Holding Ltd (HKG: 9988) took the bull by the horns and listed in Hong Kong back in January. Listing at 176 Hong Kong dollars, which was about 22.5 USD at the time, it eventually rose over 6% and hit 187.60 Hong Kong dollars on the listing day. NetEase is now the second-major U.S.-listed tech company to list in Hong Kong.
Most of NetEase’s income comes from online games on mobile and PC platforms. In 2019’s Q1, NetEase reportedly pulled in 17.1 billion yuan in net revenue, an 18.3 year-over-year increase. 79% of the income was from online games.