Tencent Music Gearing Up for Hong Kong IPO by Way of Introduction
Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) has reportedly obtained approval for a second public listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx), issuing relevant documents on September 15. Considering the firm’s sufficient cash reserves, TME will adopt a listing by way of introduction this time. It plans to start trading on September 21 under ticker symbol “1698.”
Listing by way of introduction requires no issuing of new shares or selling of shares held by existing shareholders at the time of listing, and it does not involve financing. In the first half of this year, real estate trading platform KE Holdings and EV maker NIO have successfully listed in Hong Kong by this method.
Previously, Tencent Music’s unaudited financial report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2022 showed that its revenue in the second quarter was 6.91 billion yuan ($992 million), down 13.8% year-on-year, while the net profit attributable to shareholders was 856 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.5%.
TME’s music subscription revenue in the second quarter was 2.11 billion yuan, an increase of 17.6% compared with the same period last year, mainly due to an increase of 24.9% in the number of paid users. In July, well-known singer Jay Chou’s new digital album “Greatest Work of Art” was launched. By the end of July, the sales volume of this album exceeded 6 million copies, becoming another hit on TME.
In the second quarter, the mobile monthly active users (MAUs) of TME’s online music services totaled 593 million, and the mobile MAUs of its social entertainment services reached 166 million, both of which decreased compared with the same period of last year.
TME said in its prospectus that it pursues innovation in its business and is the pioneer and trend leader for product and monetization mode innovation. According to an iResearch report, it is one of the first companies to launch online music services to Chinese users, and takes the lead in introducing the online music subscription mode. It is also one of the earliest companies in China’s online music and audio entertainment industry to provide online karaoke services.
