Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>Seeing as though it is Chinese New Year week, I thought it might be appropriate to conduct a brief analysis of US-listed China plays.</li>
<li>According to a recent US-China Economic and Security Review Commission report, 265 Chinese companies were listed on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American exchanges in January 2024 worth US$848bn. </li>
<li>That's down from 252 companies worth US$1.03tn a year ago, a 17.5% decline. 91% of the total market capitalization of Chinese firms listed on U.S. exchanges use VIEs.</li>
</ul>


Seeing as though it is Chinese New Year week, I thought it might be appropriate to conduct a brief analysis of US-listed China plays.
According to a recent US-China Economic and Security Review Commission report, 265 Chinese companies were listed on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American exchanges in January 2024 worth US$848bn. 
That's down from 252 companies worth US$1.03tn a year ago, a 17.5% decline. 91% of the total market capitalization of Chinese firms listed on U.S. exchanges use VIEs.


Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Screening US-listed China plays with negative EV and positive tailing EBITDA generates eight names. </li>
<li>Of these companies, only two are expected to be EBITDA positive in FY22. </li>
<li>They are <strong><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/joyy-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:285:1" rel="noopener">JOYY (YY US)</a></strong> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sohu-com-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22853:1" rel="noopener"><strong>Sohu.com (SOHU US</strong>)</a>. This insight looks at both names. </li>
</ul>


Screening US-listed China plays with negative EV and positive tailing EBITDA generates eight names. 
Of these companies, only two are expected to be EBITDA positive in FY22. 
They are JOYY (YY US) and Sohu.com (SOHU US). This insight looks at both names. 


Negative EVs: JOYY & Sohu's Steep Discount To Net Cash

IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

Equity Capital Markets

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lufax-holdings" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29690:1" rel="noopener">Lufax Holdings (LU US)</a> is a leading personal financial services platform in China with a focus on retail borrowing and wealth management. Lufax has launched its IPO at a price range of $11.50-13.50 per ADS to raise net proceeds of $2,109 million at the mid-point of the IPO price range. At the mid-point of the IPO price range, Lufax will command a market cap of $30.5 billion which is around 20% lower than the 2018 Series C round valuation of $39 billion. </p></div><div><div><div class="content-highlight"><p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/lufax-ipo-initiation-lost-in-transition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our initiation note</a>, we stated that while Lufax has several attractive attributes, it is a business in transition which magnifies the risk profile. Overall, our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range is unattractive and we would be inclined to give the IPO a pass.</p></div></div></div>

Lufax Holdings (LU US) is a leading personal financial services platform in China with a focus on retail borrowing and wealth management. Lufax has launched its IPO at a price range of $11.50-13.50 per ADS to raise net proceeds of $2,109 million at the mid-point of the IPO price range. At the mid-point of the IPO price range, Lufax will command a market cap of $30.5 billion which is around 20% lower than the 2018 Series C round valuation of $39 billion. In our initiation note, we stated that while Lufax has several attractive attributes, it is a business in transition which magnifies the risk profile. Overall, our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range is unattractive and we would be inclined to give the IPO a pass.

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lufax-holdings" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29690:1" rel="noopener">Lufax Holdings (LU US)</a> is a leading personal financial services platform in China with a focus on retail borrowing and wealth management. In retail credit, Lufax is the second-largest non-traditional financial service providers in China as measured by outstanding balances of retail credit facilitated, according to Oliver Wyman. Lufax has filed for an NYSE IPO to raise an estimated $3 billion, according to press reports. </p><div class="content-highlight"><p>The Chinese consumer finance sector has gone through a corona-induced extreme stress test in 1H20. The sector has proved to be more often than not value destructive for public market investors and continues to remain hostage to regulatory change. While Lufax has several attractive attributes, it is a business in transition which magnifies the risk profile.  </p></div>

Lufax Holdings (LU US) is a leading personal financial services platform in China with a focus on retail borrowing and wealth management. In retail credit, Lufax is the second-largest non-traditional financial service providers in China as measured by outstanding balances of retail credit facilitated, according to Oliver Wyman. Lufax has filed for an NYSE IPO to raise an estimated $3 billion, according to press reports. The Chinese consumer finance sector has gone through a corona-induced extreme stress test in 1H20. The sector has proved to be more often than not value destructive for public market investors and continues to remain hostage to regulatory change. While Lufax has several attractive attributes, it is a business in transition which magnifies the risk profile.  

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/360-finance-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27756:1" rel="noopener">360 Finance, Inc. (QFIN US)</a> is a leading online consumer lending platform and the finance partner of the 360 Group. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/9f-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28238:1" rel="noopener">9F Inc (JFG US)</a>, a P2P lending platform, is the largest online consumer finance platform among the independent marketplace lending platforms in China, as measured by outstanding loan balance as of 31 December 2018.</p><div class="content-highlight"><p>The Chinese consumer finance sector has gone through a corona-induced extreme stress test in 1Q20. While the industry remains hostage to regulations, we believe that the long 360 Finance/short 9F is an attractive pair trade for investors keen on exposure to the Chinese online consumer finance industry. </p></div>

360 Finance, Inc. (QFIN US) is a leading online consumer lending platform and the finance partner of the 360 Group. 9F Inc (JFG US), a P2P lending platform, is the largest online consumer finance platform among the independent marketplace lending platforms in China, as measured by outstanding loan balance as of 31 December 2018.The Chinese consumer finance sector has gone through a corona-induced extreme stress test in 1Q20. While the industry remains hostage to regulations, we believe that the long 360 Finance/short 9F is an attractive pair trade for investors keen on exposure to the Chinese online consumer finance industry. 

China Consumer Finance Pair Trade: Long 360 Finance/Short 9F

United States

Qudian Inc. provides online credit products. The Company offers cash credit products which includes funds in digital form and merchandise credit products. Qudian serves customers in China.

Qudian Inc (QD US)

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Lufax IPO: Valuation Insights

Our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range is unattractive and we would be inclined to give the IPO a pass.

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Lufax IPO Initiation: Lost in Transition

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China Consumer Finance Pair Trade: Long 360 Finance/Short 9F

360 Finance, Inc. (QFIN US) is a leading online consumer lending platform and the finance partner of the 360 Group. 9F Inc (JFG US), a P2P lending...

Arun George