Nasdaq rules a challenge in wooing fresh listings
The Hong Kong stock market may lose at least 25 listing candidates to overseas stock exchanges, Arthur Andersen partner Kennedy Liu says.
Mr Liu yesterday said that one strong competitor which could woo companies for a cross-border listing was Nasdaq.
He said Nasdaq had an edge over Hong Kong because it required no profit track record for overseas companies.
He expected it to attract 40 to 50 companies from Hong Kong and China that would boost its market capitalisation by about US$2.5 billion. If listed in Hong Kong, the firms would increase the territory's market capitalisation by about US$1.8 billion, after the discount in price-earnings ratios.
The Hong Kong market's capitalisation stood at HK$2.31 trillion at the end of last year.
There were 26 new listings last year and Mr Liu expected 35 companies would list this year.
'But we can easily have about 60 new floats done here, if the exchange can be more focused in encouraging it,' Mr Liu said.
On the proposal to set up a second-tier board for smaller companies, Mr Liu said it would not be effective. The exchange is conducting a feasibility study on the plan.
'Singapore introduced a foreign board [for smaller size fund raisings] last December but they simply got no response,' he said.
