Newly-listed firms on STAR bet on research and innovation
AMEC's executives and investors pose during the STAR opening ceremony.
Newly-listed companies of the SSE STAR Market in Shanghai will spend heavily on research, company executives said in Shanghai on Monday.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange accepted about 150 listing applications, with the first 25 companies getting listed on Monday, ranging from chips, new materials to biotech firms. They raised about 37 billion yuan (US$5.4 billion) through their IPOs.
AMEC or Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc, which offers semiconductor equipment for chipmakers, spoke on behalf of the 25 listed during the opening ceremony.
“The sci-tech innovation board is becoming a powerful booster to promote the rapid development of high-tech industry in China, and playing an important role in the development of manufacturing industry,”said Gerald Yin, chairman and CEO of AMEC.
Anji Technology, which makes semiconductor materials, said it cared more on core revenue and business development rather than market price, according to Wang Shumin, chairman of Anji Technology.
Anji led the surge among all 25 new SSE STAR shares with intra-day high of 520 percent from the IPO price.
Semiconductors is a key sector among the information technology industry, representing a country’s national tech ability. Chip is often called “heart” of products from smartphone, TV to automotive. With the development of AI and 5G, more chips are needed. At present, more than 80 percent of Chinese chips depend on imports.
Traffic Control Technology, which offers communications and signalling for metro lines, will increase investment on chips, capacity, research, operation and maintenance. After STAR listing, Traffic Control will improve security of urban metro line management, said Gao Chunhai, chairman of the company.
In the last three years, 22 of the 25 companies have generated annual revenue growth over 10 percent, Yantai Raytron Technology led the average annual growth rate of 152 percent.
The new-listed firms have already spent heavily on research, which represents long-term development, analysts said.
ArcSoft, which offers AI services and solutions, spends about 32 percent of revenue on research, the highest among the 25 firms. AMEC followed in the list with 25 percent and Anji with 22 percent.
Comparatively, tech firms often spend 5 to 10 percent of revenue on research.
