JD delivery arm rallies on Hong Kong debut

Shares in the delivery arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com rallied as much as 14 percent on its stock markets debut in Hong Kong on Friday after raising more than US$3 billion in the financial hub's second-biggest initial public offering this year.

The listing of JD Logistics comes despite concerns about the IPO market in the city following a series of tepid performances by new companies.

The firm's price rallied to a high of HK$47.75 (US$6.15) soon after trading began, well up from its starting price of HK$40.36, before settling back slightly. JD.com was slightly lower.

It had raised US$3.2 billion from the IPO, less than the US$5.4 billion clocked up by earliest short video platform Kuaishou, which more than tripled on its market debut in February.

JD Logistics has a huge network of delivery lines covering cold-chain, bulky deliveries and "last mile" logistics, and its army of red delivery staff are a daily sight across Chinese mainland.

Officials said they would plough the case raised back into the firm and look to expand overseas with an eye on Europe.

"Frankly speaking, the focus for next few years will still be growth," Chief Executive Officer Yu Rui said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

"We will focus on business expansion and revenue growth for the next several years. Our net margin will keep improving in the long term."

Hong Kong has for the past 18 months seen a flurry of Chinese mainland tech firms list in the city, part of a drive to list closer to home.

Among them was JD.com, which raised US$4 billion in June last year, while its heath unit JD Health raked in US$3.5 billion in December.

Another tech firm, NetEase, raised US$2.7 billion and Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway's chalked up a US$4.3 billion listing in January last year.