China IPO applications jump, bucking global trend

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, July 7 (Reuters): A spike in listing applications from Chinese companies in June has nearly doubled China's IPO candidates to almost 1,000, the highest in at least three years, potentially making the country a bright spot for bankers as equity offerings slow in other markets.
The rush was partly due to China's easing of COVID curbs last month, bankers say. The IPO hopefuls also scrambled to submit their applications by June 30 to avoid having to refresh them with first-half results and further delay the process.
In IPO applications, "financial data has a life of six months, which is why you typically see a rush ahead of June 30, and Dec 31," said a Chinese banker, who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
"In addition, many projects were hampered by the COVID outbreaks previously," he added, referring to the two-month COVID-19 lockdown of Shanghai that ended on June 1.
In Hong Kong, the $1.71 billion listing next week of Tianqi Lithium is a welcome boost for the city's flagging capital markets but is not expected to be a trigger for more deals as global financial markets remain volatile.