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Shein Shares Fall in Hong Kong Stock Market Debut

8 sources across 6 countries

Who reported this

  • BBC News United Kingdom · Centre · Public · Licence fee, royal charter
  • Financial Times United Kingdom · Centre · Nikkei Inc.
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • Infobae Argentina · Centre-right · Daniel Hadad
  • UOL Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Folha
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine Germany · Centre-right · FAZIT-Stiftung (foundation)
  • South China Morning Post Hong Kong · Centre-right · Alibaba Group
  • NRC Netherlands · Centre · Mediahuis

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

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Fast fashion giant Shein saw its shares fall as much as 10 percent during its long awaited stock market debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The company priced its shares at 48.56 Hong Kong dollars each, raising approximately 1.7 billion US dollars from the sale of 280 million shares. This listing gave the company a valuation of roughly 26.3 billion US dollars, which is a significant decrease from its peak valuation of nearly 100 billion US dollars in 2022. Shares opened flat before dropping to as low as 43.72 Hong Kong dollars, though they recovered slightly to trade around 46.62 Hong Kong dollars by the midday break.

The company's path to the public market was delayed by failed attempts to list in the US and UK. These setbacks were driven by political resistance and regulatory scrutiny regarding Shein's labor practices, specifically allegations of forced labor in China, as well as concerns over its environmental impact. Shein has stated it maintains a zero tolerance policy for forced labor. Additionally, the company faces challenges from new tariff policies in the US and Europe that have removed exemptions for low value packages, leading to higher costs and falling revenues in some markets.

Chief Financial Officer Leigh Gui described the listing as a new beginning for the firm, which serves approximately 273 million active customers across 160 markets. Analysts suggest the market remains skeptical of the company's growth potential due to fierce competition from rivals like Temu, Inditex, and H&M, as well as ongoing trade tensions.

How each side framed it

Centre-left
This outlet provided a brief report focusing on the percentage drop in share price and the amount of capital raised.
Centre
These outlets focused on the geopolitical pressures and the broader market skepticism regarding the company's sustainability and growth.
Centre-right
These outlets emphasized the financial metrics of the valuation drop and the specific impact of tariffs and competition on profit margins.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.