XXF in seventh heaven as stock jumps 49pc

Staff reporter and Reuters

Chinese automobile finance lease service provider XXF Group (2473) soared as much as 260 percent in Hong Kong yesterday after it succeeded in listing in the city on its seventh attempt.

The Fujian-based debutant closed 49.1 percent higher at HK$1.64, the third-best performing stock of this year.

The closing price marked a paper gain of HK$1,350 per board lot.

XXF raised HK$28.8 million in net proceeds for its Hong Kong initial public offering after pricing its shares at HK$1.1 apiece, which is toward the bottom end of its indicative range.

Founded in 2007, XXF now sells cars and offers car buyers financing services.

The firm previously had applied to go public in the city six times between 2019 and 2022, but all the attempts failed.

This came as Huashi (1111) jumped over 60 percent among local gray markets ahead of its debut today.

The branding and marketing services provider closed 63.5 percent higher to HK$1.7 on Futu Securites' platform, representing a paper gain of HK$2,640 per board lot for investors. It also rose 54.8 percent in Phillip Securites' gray market.

Huashi has priced its shares at HK$1.04, the top end of its marketed range, to raise HK$72.1 million in net proceeds.

Another debutant Folangsi (2499) also advanced 7.3 percent in Futu's gray market.

The intralogistics equipment solution provider raised HK$116 million in net proceeds after pricing its IPO at HK$14.28 apiece, close to the bottom of the indicative range.

Elsewhere, Zeekr, Chinese automaker Geely Automobile's (0175) premium electric vehicle brand, will this week publicly release some details of its plans to list shares in New York, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, seeking to ride growing enthusiasm for EVs despite strained US-China ties.

The EV brand will publish its prospectus and its shares could start being traded on the bourse within weeks of the announcement, the sources said.

Zeekr confidentially filed for a US initial public offering last December, aiming to raise more than US$1 billion (HK$7.8 billion), Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, DayDayCook, a Hong Kong-based online cooking content platform, has reportedly submitted a preliminary prospectus in the US on Wednesday and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange in mid-November.