HKEX posts best quarter as China’s ‘DeepSeek moment’ spurs IPOs, market rerating

HKEX’s first-quarter profit of HK$4.08 billion (US$526 million) exceeds analysts’ estimate of HK$3.99 billion

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Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing operates Asia’s third-largest stock market. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 12:22pm, 30 Apr 2025Updated: 6:30pm, 30 Apr 2025

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), operator of Asia’s third-largest stock market, said its first-quarter profit reached a record high, thanks to more new listings and increased turnover.

Net profit rose 37 per cent to HK$4.08 billion (US$526 million) or HK$3.23 per share from a year earlier, the company said on Wednesday. The result beat the HK$3.99 billion consensus among analysts tracked by Bloomberg. HKEX also topped its previous best profit of HK$3.84 billion, set in the first quarter of 2021.

“The renewed global interest in China opportunities that picked up in the second half of 2024 continued to build momentum into 2025, boosted by exciting developments in artificial intelligence and innovation,” CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting said in a statement. “The vibrancy of Hong Kong’s capital raising activity during the quarter continued to underscore the attractiveness of our markets.”

Hong Kong ranked among in the world’s top five venues for initial public offerings (IPOs) during the quarter, and recorded two of the largest follow-on offerings since April 2021, she added. The momentum has continued into the current quarter, with a healthy pipeline of 120 listing applications.

Bonnie Chan Yiting, CEO of HKEX. Photo: Nora Tam

Hong Kong’s stock market – the cheapest in terms of its price-to-earnings multiple among major world bourses – has seen a resurgence in transactions and fundraising activity this year, after DeepSeek’s low-cost breakthrough in artificial intelligence services rekindled investor interest in Chinese technology stocks.

“Hopefully with that review, [investors] are going to realise the attractiveness of stocks in this region,” Chan said in February during a conference organised by the Post in Kuala Lumpur.