Shares in Chinese battery giant CATL close up 16 pct on Hong Kong debut

Shares in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) closed up 16 percent after they debuted at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on Tuesday, raising 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in the world's biggest initial public offering (IPO) this year.

On its listing day, CATL opened at 296 Hong Kong dollars, rising 12.55 percent from its offering price of 263 Hong Kong dollars. The stock closed at 306.20 Hong Kong dollars a share.

CATL's Hong Kong IPO attracted a diverse range of investors from 15 countries and regions, including sovereign wealth funds, industrial investors, and long-term institutional investors. The listing process was completed in just 128 days.

"As a global company, we need a global capital market platform. Overseas capital markets offer higher efficiency, and we need this as we expand our production capacity globally. A fast and effective capital market is crucial for us," said Wang Hongbo, CATL's Chief Investment Officer.

"As we are a leading company in this industry, global investors want to share in our growth opportunities. This also reflects the positive re-evaluation of Chinese technology companies," Wang added.

At the end of 2024, CATL operated six global research and development centers and 13 battery production bases, with service networks spanning 64 countries and regions.

The company's profitability has grown consistently, with profits reaching 33.5 billion yuan (about 4.64 billion U.S. dollars), 47.3 billion yuan (about 6.56 billion U.S. dollars), and 55.3 billion yuan (about 7.67 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

CATL set a record for the lowest discount rate for A-share companies issuing H-share IPOs in the past decade. Expert said that this fully reflects the optimism among international investors about China's new energy sector.

"Several A-share companies in the new energy industry chain have applied for H-share listings, and we expect more new energy companies to issue shares in Hong Kong. These projects are likely to continue attracting strong interest from both domestic and international institutional investors," said Cong Hui, head of capital markets department of China International Capital Corporation (CICC).

Shares in Chinese battery giant CATL close up 16 pct on Hong Kong debut

Removal of the tail section of Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft involved in Thursday's tragic plane crash in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad officially commenced on Saturday.

Air India's Flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, flying from Ahmedabad to London, descended rapidly and crashed into a building on Thursday shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board with only one survivor.

The fuselage of the plane still remained on the top of the buildings at the crash site, where mechanics and laborers are working to ensure that it will be taken out in a way that it can still provide clues to the final moments of AI-171.

Investigators and forensic experts from the UK, the U.S., and Canada have arrived in Ahmedabad to analyze the cause of the tragedy.

One of the black boxes, the digital flight data recorder, was recovered already on Friday afternoon from the rooftop of the building on which the jet crashed, while search for the other one, the cockpit voice recorder, is still underway.

Removal of tail section of crashed Air India plane begins