Hong Kong IPOs falter, China aids homebuyers, EU trade talks

Hong Kong's initial public offerings (IPOs) are struggling, with seven out of 12 IPOs in September falling on their first day of trading, according to Bloomberg data. This brings the total number of flops in the third quarter to 15 out of 31 IPOs. In contrast, only 14 out of 77 IPOs declined in the first half of the year.

The city's retail sales, however, showed a 5.6 per cent year-on-year increase in August, reaching a value of HK$32 billion. Sales growth had slowed for two consecutive months prior to this, but picked up in August. The Census and Statistics Department reported that sales in the first eight months of the year rose by 8.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2025.

Electrical goods and other consumer durables recorded the strongest increase in August, rising by 29.1 per cent year on year. On the other hand, motor vehicles and parts recorded a decline of 22 per cent. The Hong Kong Retail Management Association had noted that August sales fell short of expectations.

Brief written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post, South China Morning Post - Hong Kong — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.