The listing in Singapore provides a means to set up “a strategic presence in Southeast Asia … which the company believes will allow the group to capture business opportunities in these areas more effectively”, PC Partner said. “The directors are therefore of the view that the [listing] is in the interests of the company and its shareholders as a whole.”
PC Partner’s shares fell 0.9 per cent to HK$4.47 in Hong Kong on Friday. Still, its stock has risen 42 per cent this year to outperform the benchmark Hang Seng Index, which eked out a 5.5 per cent gain in the same period.
After completing its secondary listing in Singapore, PC Partner said it aims to later convert that into a primary listing – a move that will trigger a withdrawal of its listing status in Hong Kong, the company said in the statement.
A delisting from the Hong Kong stock exchange will require PC Partner to obtain approval from the firm’s shareholders via a vote in an extraordinary general meeting, the company said.
That move, however, may reflect how the years-long economic downturn has chipped away at the appeal of Hong Kong’s US$5 trillion stock market, which is the third-largest in Asia.
The Hang Seng Index posted an unprecedented fourth consecutive year of decline in 2023, as concerns about mainland China’s growth outlook intensified amid the property crisis and weak consumer spending.
Revenue in 2023 fell 15 per cent from a year earlier to HK$9.2 billion (US$1.2 billion), as enterprise and consumer spending turned cautious owing to geopolitical and economic concerns, according to PC Partner’s annual report. Sales generated from the Chinese mainland increased 6.4 per cent, while those from the rest of Asia and Northern and Latin America fell 12 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively.
Net income slumped 91 per cent to HK$60.8 million last year because of shrinking profit margins, according to the annual report.