15/05/2025

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | MAY 15, 2025

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CATL to price shares at HK$263 each in IPO: Sources SYDNEY: Chinese battery maker CATL is set to price its shares at HK$263 (RM144.41) each and increase the size of the company’s Hong Kong listing, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, raising about HK$35.66 billion. It would be the largest listing globally in 2025, according to LSEG data. Prospective investors have discount compared with its mainland stocks. Investors are usually offered stock at a cheaper price in offshore listings as an incentive to buy into the share offering. More than 20 cornerstone investors subscribed for about US$2.6 billion worth of CATL shares in the listing, the filings showed. CATL’s books were multiple

times oversubscribed with strong demand from sovereign wealth and global long-only investors since its launch on Monday, according to a book message sent to investors on Tuesday and reviewed by Reuters The company said about 90% of the proceeds raised, about HK$27.6 billion, would be spent on the construction of its planned Hungary factory, part of its plan to make batteries in Europe for automakers such as BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen. The first phase of the factory, in which it is investing €2.7 billion (RM13 billion), is due to start producing batteries this year. It aims to begin construction on the second phase later this year. CATL shares are due to start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on May 20, according to its filings. – Reuters

been told orders for CATL stock made below HK$263 per share risk missing out on allocations, the sources added. A so-called offer size adjustment option to increase the number of shares on sale by 17.7 million is set be exercised, the sources said. Adding that stock will take the value of CATL’s listing to about HK$35.66 billion. The sources could not be named discussing confidential information. CATL did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The HK$263 price is about a 6% discount to CATL’s Shenzhen-stock’s closing price of 258.77 yuan on Tuesday. The stock was trading up about 1% yesterday, compared to China’s CSI300 which was up about 1.5%. Hong Kong shares of a company typically trade at a

People standing near a display of Axial-flux Motor Distributed-drive System at the CATL booth at the Auto Shanghai show. – REUTERSPIC

Foxconn profit surges but outlook clouded by tariffs

India’s vegetable oil stockpiles fall to five-year low MUMBAI: India’s vegetable oil imports in April plunged to their lowest in over four years, led by declines in palm oil imports, dragging inventories to their lowest in nearly five years, a leading industry body said yesterday. Depleted stocks may mean India, the world’s biggest buyer of vegetable oils, will increase imports of palm oil and soyoil in the coming months, supporting Malaysian palm oil prices and US soyoil futures. India’s palm oil imports in April fell 24.29% from March to 321,446 metric tons, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said. Imports of soyoil increased 1.6% to 360,984 tons and sunflower oil imports fell 5.5% to 180,128 tons, the industry trade body said. Lower imports of palm oil and sunflower oil brought down India’s total vegetable oil imports in April to 891,558 tons, the lowest since February 2021, the SEA said. Below-average imports for the past four months have reduced vegetable oil stocks in the country to 1.35 million tons as of May 1, the lowest since July 2020, according to SEA data. In the first half of the 2024/25 marketing year, which ends in October, palm oil’s share of India’s total vegetable oil imports fell to 42% from 60%. Conversely, the combined share of soybean and sunflower oil rose to 58% from 40%. Palm oil’s premium over soyoil prompted Indian buyers to reduce palm oil purchases and increase soyoil buying in recent months. But palm oil is trading at a discount to rival oils, which should lift imports from May onwards, said a New Delhi-based dealer with a global trading house. “Indian buyers are price-sensitive. Since palm oil is now trading at a discount to soyoil, they have again switched from soyoil to palm oil,” the dealer said. India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. – Reuters

The company has been looking to expand its footprint in electric vehicles, which it sees as a major future growth generator. Foxconn subsidiary Foxtron Vehicle Technologies and Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors last week announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the supply of an electric vehicle model. Foxconn has previously said it would consider taking a stake in Nissan for cooperation. Japan’s third-biggest automaker is striving to make its business leaner and more resilient after weak sales in China and its biggest market the United States. Foxconn will holds its earnings call in Taipei this week, where it will also update its outlook for the year. Its shares have fallen 11.4% so far this year, hit by concerns about US trade policy, compared with a 5.4% decline for the broader Taiwan index. They closed up 3.2% yesterday ahead of the earnings call. – Reuters

and his outlook for the full year was more cautious than previously. A Sino-US trade spat could dim prospects for Foxconn’s outlook this year, as it has a major manufacturing presence in China, though Washington and Beijing on Monday agreed to slash tariffs for at least 90 days. The cheer over the temporary truce was tempered by caution, given a more permanent trade deal needs to be struck, while higher tariffs overall could still weigh on the global economy. Most of the iPhones Foxconn makes for Apple are assembled in China. Foxconn is also building a large manufacturing facility in Mexico – another target of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs – to produce AI servers for Nvidia. In an earnings report, Foxconn said it should see significant on-year growth in the second quarter, with high double-digit growth year-on-year for AI servers and an accelerating volume production ramp-up. The manufacturer does not provide numerical guidance.

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, said yesterday quarterly profit leapt 91%, beating forecasts, thanks to strong demand for AI servers, although the outlook was overshadowed by tariff uncertainty. Net profit for January-March for Apple’s top iPhone assembler and Nvidia’s server maker came in at T$42.12 billion (RM5.96 billion), versus the T$37.8 billion average of 13 analyst estimates compiled by LSEG. Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry, last month said January-March revenue jumped 24.2% to a record for that quarter on strong sales of AI servers. Chairman Young Liu said on an earnings call that US tariffs will bring more challenges o Company confident on AI server demand, looking to expand EV footprint

Baidu prepares to launch driverless taxi in Europe, WSJ reports NEW YORK: Chinese technology major Baidu is preparing to test its driverless ride-hailing service, Apollo Go, in Europe for the first time, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Baidu plans to set up a local entity in Switzerland in the coming months and aims to begin testing the technology by the end of this year, WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter. The company has been in discussions with Switzerland’s bus service-provider PostAuto to debut its robotaxi service in Switzerland, the report added. Swiss Post, PostAuto’s parent, said in an e mail to Reuters that there is currently no partnership or cooperation between the unit or Swiss Post and Baidu or any other technology provider. “Swiss Post, with its Mobility Services unit, is also thinking about the future of our mobility and new customer requirements,” the company added. Baidu also plans to launch Apollo Go in Turkiye, the WSJ report said. The company’s robotaxi service Apollo Go operates in multiple Chinese cities, with the largest fleet of more than 400 vehicles in central China’s Wuhan city. Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – Reuters