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Dec. 12 (NBD) -- Hong Kong is expected to reclaim its position as the top destination for initial public offerings (IPOs) this year with the full-year fundraising size estimated to hit around HKD300 billion (38.4 billion U.S. dollars), Maggie Lee, KPMG's Head of Capital Markets Development in Hong Kong, said in an media interview Tuesday. 

Hong Kong's IPO market has seen an unprecedented boom since the Hong Kong Stock Exchange implemented its new listing regime in late April that allows companies with a dual-class shareholding structure and pre-profit biotech firms to get listed. 

From January to November 30 of this year, 133 new listings were recorded for the Main Board in Hong Kong, hitting a record high. The aggregate fundraising amount reached HKD289.8 billion (37.1 billion U.S. dollars), more than double from the full-year level for 2017. 

Currently, approximately 240 companies are lining up to get listed on the Stock Exchange, and the interest from new economy firms remains undiminished, Lee noted. 

In 2018, 36 IPOs came from the new economy sector, accounting for more than a quarter of 133 IPOs recorded in the Main Board, KPMG analysis found. This compared to just 11 companies, or less than 15 percent, of the 80 Main Board listings in 2017.

The new listing regime has attracted four pre-revenue biotech companies and two companies with weighted voting right structures to complete their IPOs. And IPO of another eight biotech firms are in the pipeline. 

According to Lee, KPMG expects Hong Kong's IPO market to raise over HKD200 billion (25.6 billion U.S. dollars) from 200 new listings next year, mostly mid- and small-sized IPOs.

However, Lee acknowledged that Hong Kong didn't see many mega IPOs this year. 

When it comes to IPO, mega-sized companies will often take into account the activity of stocks, investors' understanding and acceptance of related industries, and target markets of their products and services on different exchanges, she said to the 21st Century Business Herald Tuesday. 

As newly listed companies saw a considerable decrease in valuation in the recent quarter, some companies seeking to list in Hong Kong are adjusting their schedules, according to Lee.

A senior executive with an education company with interest in a Hong Kong listing told the news outlet that the company's price-earnings (PE) ratio was over 30 times before June this year, but the ratio now dropped to 15-17 times. 

Regarding the weaker-than-expected performance of dual-class and biotech shares, Charles Li, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), said at a forum on Monday it was caused by external uncertainties, but he stressed HKEx will endeavor to reform its business model to fully embrace new economy.

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn