Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) reported better-than-expected results in the first half of the year, raking in record-high business revenue and profit, despite global market fluctuations and the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the company’s interim report released on Wednesday, HKEX’s profit rose 1 percent in the first six months to reach $675 million.
The half-year revenue and other income in 2020 also set a new record, rising 2 percent year-on-year, including a 13 percent jump in core business revenue and 46 percent increase in Stock Connect revenues and other income that totals $743 million. Profits for the first half year rose 1 percent, compared to the same period last year.
HKEX attributed the growth to a furry of big listings and rising market turnover.
Hong Kong’s IPO market is ranked second in the world by number of IPOs for the first half of 2020, and was in third place globally by the amount of funds raised through IPOs. The average daily numbers of trading (ADT) in the Stock Connect also reached record half-year highs, totaling $20.7 billion in southbound and $10.74 billion in northbound trading.
The significant number of IPOs and increase in income were notably held up by a slew of secondary listings from Chinese mainland-based companies.
In June, shares of China’s e-commerce giant JD.com rose 3.5 percent in its secondary listing in Hong Kong, raising $3.87 billion. The second listing of NetEase, a Chinese internet giant, pushed its share prices up by over 5 percent on the first day of trading in Hong Kong during the same month.
HKEX File Photo
