China sees 59 TMT IPOs in first half of 2017

SHANGHAI - China's technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors saw 59 IPOs in the first half of 2017, according to accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Tuesday.

The figure was almost the same as the second half of 2016, when 58 TMT companies went public.

The IPOs raised a total of 25.8 billion yuan ($3.9 billion) in H1, PwC said.

A total of 27 were listed on the Growth Enterprises Market (GEM) Board in Shenzhen, raising 9 billion yuan, while 19 went public on the Main Board, collecting 10.8 billion yuan. Another 12 TMT IPOs were listed on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Board and one on an overseas market.

The report also showed that the average price-to-earning (PE) ratio in the A share market almost halved in June this year from the end of 2015.

"IPOs in the TMT sector maintained a high number as many companies seeking IPOs in the second half of 2016 were only given green light this year as China sped up the approval of IPOs," said Gao Jianbin, PwC China TMT partner. "In addition, SMEs and start-ups in the sector remained active, and this has also helped raise the number of public listings in China."