China share offerings decline sharply in first half of 2016

The number of initial public offerings and the amount of funds raised in China's A-share market fell sharply year-on-year during the first half of 2016, according to statistics released by PwC on Monday.

During the period, 61 IPOs were completed in the A-share market, raising 28.8 billion yuan ($4.3 billion), representing declines of 67 percent and 80 percent respectively from a year earlier.

The steep fall was caused by combined factors including the global and Chinese economic slowdown and China's tightening of IPO regulations amid stock market fluctuations, said Frank Lyn, leader of PwC's mainland and Hong Kong markets section.

"The latest IPO regulations, brought into effect in 2016, revamped the rules governing the purchase of new shares, particularly with regard to payment before purchase. The adaptations have led to a reduction in the impact of new share issues on the secondary market. Nevertheless, due to repeated fluctuations of the A-share market in the first half of the year, regulators have tightened approvals of new share issues in an effort to maintain stability of the capital market," he said.

Among the 61 A-share IPOs during the first six months, 26 raised a total of 13.4 billion yuan on the Shanghai main board, with the majority stemming from the industrial products, consumer goods and services sectors. The Shenzhen SME board had 15 listings raising 8.3 billion yuan. An additional 20 listings on the Shenzhen ChiNext board raised 7.1 billion yuan.

Also from January to June, 7,685 companies listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations system raised 71.4 billion yuan, with trading volume worth 87.4 billion yuan, as the NEEQ market has flourished since 2014.

PwC forecast that the number of A-share IPOs for the whole year will reach approximately 120, raising a total of 60 billion to 80 billion yuan, based on the premise that Chinese economy will continue to grow steadily.

Despite slower economic growth and fluctuations in the mainland and Hong Kong stock markets, Hong Kong still ranked as the world's number one market in terms of the amount of IPOs and the volume of financing.

Over the first half of 2016, 40 companies were listed in Hong Kong, raising a total of HK$43.5 billion ($5.6 billion). Although both numbers decreased compared with last year, PwC is optimistic about the IPO market in Hong Kong over the second half of 2016 and expects to see more vigorous IPO financing activities in 2017.

It is anticipated that there will be 130 IPOs with a total value of HK$220 billion to HK$250 billion in Hong Kong in 2017.