Photo/Wen Duo (NBD)

FWD Group Holdings Limited (hereinafter referred to as FWD Group), the insurance company founded by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li Tzar Kai, has once again applied for initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

On March 13th, information disclosed on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd showed that FWD Group submitted a listing application to the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, CMB International and JPMorgan are its joint sponsors. 

Prior to this, FWD Group submitted similar applications on February 28th and September 13th of 2022.

The prospectus shows that FWD Group, founded in 2013, is a rapidly growing pan-Asian life insurance company that adopts customer-first philosophy and a digitally-enabled model.

According to the prospectus, FWD Group's operations span Hong Kong and Macao of China, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. The company's shareholders include Richard Li Tzar Kai and his affiliated companies, and Swiss Re. 

In 2022, FWD Group recorded total revenue of US$8.25 billion with a net loss of US$740 million. In 2020 and 2021, the company recorded net losses of US$252 million and net profits of US$249 million respectively. 

FWD Group said that its net loss in 2020 was mainly due to increased financing costs and other non-recurring costs including implementation costs for IFRS9 and IFRS17 as well as supervision cost and one-time costs for integration activities while its net loss in 2022 was mainly due to losses on investment return caused by unfavorable capital market changes.