Hong Kong Exchange Operator Posts Another Record Quarter on Stronger Trading, Listing Activity

By Kimberley Kao

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing reported record profit and revenue for the third quarter as trading and listing activity in the Asian financial hub gathered momentum.

The stock-exchange operator said Wednesday that net profit jumped 56% from a year earlier to 4.90 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to US$630.3 million. That topped the HK$4.70 billion consensus estimate of analysts in a Visible Alpha poll.

Core business revenue increased 54% to HK$7.48 billion, which the company attributed to stronger trading and clearing fees resulting from record cash market volumes.

HKEX also witnessed a surge in trading volumes during the quarter, with the headline average daily turnover more than doubling to a record HK$286.4 billion, it said.

"HKEX continued to capture the momentum of global diversification and attractiveness of Chinese assets," the exchange operator said.

Funds raised from 69 new listings in the city during the first three quarters of the year more than tripled to HK$188.3 billion compared with a year earlier. That was the strongest nine-month period since 2021, according to HKEX.

There were 297 active IPO applications as of the end of September, up from 84 at end-December.

Increased investor participation, market liquidity and policy support have spurred an IPO revival in the city, keeping Hong Kong on track to become the world's top listing destination by proceeds raised.

The rebound in IPO activity has been fueled by Chinese companies seeking secondary listings and comes amid a surge of high-tech companies looking to tap the Hong Kong market.

Improved sentiment around artificial-intelligence developments has driven flows into Chinese technology shares, which has helped push the benchmark Hang Seng Index up about 29% this year through midday Wednesday, making it one of the best-performing indexes in the region.

Chinese stocks appeared to be more sensitive to trade tensions than most this year, but the enthusiasm around President Trump's trip to Asia and the trade deals announced were decent tailwinds, Thomas Mathews of Capital Economics said in a recent note. Chinese equities will likely benefit from any further easing in U.S.-China tensions, he said.

Shares of HKEX were down 0.9% ahead of the results, trimming gains this year to about 43%.

Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 05, 2025 00:06 ET (05:06 GMT)