Hong Kong

AIA sends mixed signals on growth

4 May 2018

New business at the $107 bln insurer rose 20 pct in the first quarter. That’s sluggish by AIA’s standards, hinting at the challenges of sustaining growth rates at ever-increasing scale. On the plus side, there are signs the group could reduce its heavy dependence on China.

Hong Kong reveals capital imbalance in LGBT spat

4 May 2018

The city is fighting to stop a lesbian from obtaining a spousal visa. Morgan Stanley, Freshfields and others have backed the woman's case, recognising the value of human capital. Hong Kong favours the financial kind, evidenced by the relaxation of rules to attract more IPOs.

Chinese handset-maker Xiaomi wins tech IPO bingo

3 May 2018

Seeking a $100 bln valuation in a Hong Kong debut, it insists it's "more than a hardware company." Xiaomi also packed the prospectus with buzzwords like platform, cloud, big data and AI. There's super-voting stock and an internal VC fund of sorts, too. This one really has it all.

StanChart inches closer to mediocrity

2 May 2018

The emerging markets lender nearly hit its lowball 8 pct return on equity target in the first quarter. The results were helped by low losses, and revenue grew more slowly than expected. Boss Bill Winters at least has lots of capital, but regulatory probes may limit payouts.

Chinese telco investors have rare reason to cheer

2 May 2018

U.S. probes into ZTE and Huawei might delay a 5G rollout plan. That would be a relief for China Mobile and peers that will foot the bill. Onerous directives from Beijing mean operators suffer a huge discount to global peers like Vodafone. A pause will allow profit to accumulate.

Diminished Deutsche Bank resembles cut-price BNP

26 April 2018

The German lender signalled the end of its global investment banking ambitions with cuts in the U.S. and Asia. New boss Christian Sewing plans to focus on Europe and more stable revenue sources. But low profitability hinders his plan to mimic continental rivals like BNP Paribas.

Hong Kong opens doors to far-from-super governance

25 April 2018

Tech companies with super-voting shares could be trading on the city’s stock market from June. The new rules offer more safeguards than New York, but without the legal redress U.S. investors enjoy. Expect some big listings – and shoddy treatment of minority shareholders.

Ping An healthcare IPO looks pricey but fit

23 April 2018

The Chinese finance giant has launched a $1 bln IPO of its medical arm. By connecting patients with doctors, drugs and health services online, the Good Doctor app supports policy while accumulating valuable data. It’s not yet profitable, but the premium looks justifiable.

China/Russia oil hug can dodge Huarong curveball

18 April 2018

Beijing is investigating the state-run asset manager’s chair for graft, in a copy of its probe into private group CEFC. That complicates Huarong’s support for CEFC’s acquisition of a stake in Rosneft. Yet given these are de facto state players, the deal should still survive.

Savory European fare feeds China’s M&A cravings

18 April 2018

Property developer Kam Fung may buy Spanish meat producer Incarlopsa, valuing it at 1.2 bln euros. Combining bricks and ham offers no clear benefits, and the price looks rich. But Beijing isn't guiding against food investing, and the Trump era forces a change of deal direction.

Hong Kong’s dollar peg looks durable

13 April 2018

The monetary authority stepped in to prop up the local currency, the first such intervention under a system that dates to 2005. Long term, the territory will probably ditch its tie to the U.S. dollar and track the yuan instead. But the peg faces no serious threat for now.

Toys R Us Asia deal will be far from child’s play

12 April 2018

The bankrupt retailer has drawn bids of over $1 bln for its Asian operations. The unit is growing in China and Southeast Asia but its biggest market is Japan, where the number of kids is shrinking. Any buyer will also need a clear idea of how to handle the threat from e-commerce.

Wynn presents MGM with Vegas-like temptations

11 April 2018

The Bellagio owner has a rare chance to bid for its $20 bln casino rival as scandal-struck Wynn grapples with its future. The numbers are a stretch, and the vagaries of Macau make it difficult for MGM to justify a premium. Nonetheless, chances like this don’t arise often.

Opacity makes U.S. sanctions on Russia more potent

11 April 2018

Rusal aluminium will be barred from London’s Metal Exchange, and the Russian group and parent En+ will be deleted from some stock indices. In theory, non-Americans should be able to deal with both. But fear of how rules will be enforced is compounding the pain of tough sanctions.

China’s financial market door only opens inward

11 April 2018

The People’s Republic pledged to raise ownership limits for foreign financiers by the end of the year, and quadrupled the daily stock trading quota with Hong Kong. The reforms are welcome. But the opening enables more money to flow into China, while keeping domestic cash at home.

Solid takeover hurdle trips up Foxconn of sneakers

11 April 2018

Taiwanese contract footwear maker Pou Chen wanted full control of its Hong Kong affiliate Pou Sheng. The $1.4 bln deal was nixed, however, by just 4 pct of investors. There's a risk that the rigorous system can be gamed, but it commendably tilts in favour of outside shareholders.

China’s DJI performs impressive fundraising stunts

10 April 2018

The drone-maker is requiring investors who want to buy equity at a $15 bln valuation to provide an accompanying interest-free, three-year loan. Such terms suggest DJI is soaring above many struggling gadget companies. It's also the latest evidence of breathtaking tech heights.

Glencore’s Rusal cloud has a silver lining

9 April 2018

The commodity trader is nursing a hit to its 9 percent stake in the Russian miner, whose shares have halved due to U.S. sanctions. But the loss is bearable and disruption to the aluminium market and growing protectionism may end up helping CEO Ivan Glasenberg’s trading business.

Breakdown: China’s gift to big technology

9 April 2018

Beijing has unveiled plans to allow Alibaba and other offshore-listed tech giants to sell stock using depositary receipts. The move should boost their valuations and benefit investors on both sides of the Pacific – but creates a few fresh headaches too.

Meituan deal sets pace in Chinese bicycle-sharing

4 April 2018

The food-delivering, ticket-booking, ride-sharing app is buying Mobike for $2.7 bln. Given the competitive and cash-burning realities, investors should be relieved at the sale. For rival Ofo, which just raised nearly $900 mln more from Alibaba and others, the riding gets tougher.