China Mobile, the Chinese telecom behemoth that was delisted from the US market last year, surged by 9.41 percent reaching 63 yuan ($9.92) per share during its Shanghai debut Wednesday, equaling a total market value of 1.34 trillion yuan.
The stock opened at 63-yuan, 9.41 percent higher than the offer price of 57.58 yuan, and was 4.2 percent higher at 60 yuan as of 11:00 during morning trading. Turnover of its shares had already exceeded 10 billion yuan as of Wednesday noon.
With an issue price of 57.58 yuan per share, the firm had raised 56 billion yuan in funds, marking China’s biggest public share offering in over a decade.
China Mobile’s Hong Kong-listed shares were up 3.8 percent in early trade. The company said in a filing Tuesday that it would press ahead with a plan to buy back up to 2.05 billion shares, worth nearly $13 billion.
The firm’s domestic rivals, China Telecom and China Unicom, are already listed on mainland markets.
The three were delisted from the New York stock exchange following a Trump-era decision to restrict investment in Chinese technology firms, amid continuing tensions between Washington and Beijing.
In January 2021, the New York Stock Exchange delisted the three largest Chinese telecommunications companies in accordance with an executive order signed by former US President Donald Trump before he vacated office.
The carrier’s debut is being closely watched after a number of Chinese companies recently saw their share price fall below their offering price on the first day of trade.
According to the prospectus, in the first three quarters of 2021, China Mobile’s revenue was 648.63 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.92 percent; net profit was 87.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.59 percent. In terms of net profit, China Mobile also ranked first among the country’s three major operators, far exceeding 12.926 billion yuan and 23.436 billion yuan of China Unicom and China Telecom.
The presence of the three telecom giants in the domestic stock market will help them tap huge funding to expand businesses like 5G amid the country’s digital transformation, Ma Jihua, a telecommunications industry veteran analyst, told the Global Times, noting that the companies’ market value will be reassessed.
The debut also comes amid mounting policy uncertainties in the US, which has driven more US-listed Chinese companies to accelerate their return home plans. And, Chinese investors’ deep pockets and improved capital infrastructure are giving the trend a leg up, experts said.
A view of 5G base stations built by China Mobile at Mount Qomolangma. Photo: Courtesy of China Mobile
