Huatai International Financial Holdings Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed Huatai Securities, performed well last year despite turbulent capital market funding conditions. In 2022, Huatai International’s revenues rose 14% year on year, to HK$10.9 billion ($1.4 billion) and profits soared 34% to HK$2 billion. It was the only top Chinese investment bank in Hong Kong to record such growth in assets, revenues and profits, and its investment banking team was one of the few to expand in Hong Kong while others were forced to cut their headcount because of the slump in deal flow.
Huatai International’s strengths lie in its Hong Kong IPO business, solid follow-on franchise and China-into-Europe global depositary receipts (GDR) listings franchise.
The firm was top among Hong Kong IPO bookrunners in 2022, with league table credits for $605.7 million from 17 deals, giving it a 7.1% market share, according to Dealogic.
Among the largest listings it worked on were the $1.3 billion IPO of battery-maker CALB Co and the $863 million deal for Sunshine Insurance Group.
More impressively, Huatai International was the sole sponsor on CALB’s IPO, the largest sole sponsor deal in the city since 2015.
Huatai International was the left lead underwriter on Zhongyuan Bank’s $723 million H-share transaction in April 2022, the second-largest follow-on deal on the bourse last year.
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