
In today’s briefing:
- FWD Group (1828 HK): Offering Details & Index Entry Timeline
- FWD IPO – Valuation Down but Its Difficult to Get Excited About It
- FWD Group (1828 HK) IPO: Valuation Insights
- Anjoy Foods (2648 HK): Float Cap Restricts Global Index Inclusion
- FWD IPO Valuation: Intangible Assets Is the Key (Vs. Peers)
- Lucror Analytics – Morning Views Asia
- VIOT: Viomi hits a few speed bumps in the road. Adjusting our valuation target to 4.00

FWD Group (1828 HK): Offering Details & Index Entry Timeline
- FWD Group Holdings (FWD HK) is looking to raise up to HK$3.99bn (US$508m) in its IPO, valuing the company at HK$48.82bn (US$6.22bn).
- Cornerstone investors will take up more than half the base offering and that will delay index inclusion to well into 2026.
- FWD Group Holdings (FWD HK) could be added to the HSCI Index and Southbound Stock Connect in December. That could bring some buying into the stock from mainland investors.
FWD IPO – Valuation Down but Its Difficult to Get Excited About It
- FWD Group, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, aims to raise around US$442m in its HK IPO.
- FWD is a pan-Asia life insurer operating in ten markets including Hong Kong (and Macau), Thailand (and Cambodia), Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.
- We looked at the company’s past performance in our previous notes. In this note we talk about the IPO pricing.
FWD Group (1828 HK) IPO: Valuation Insights
- FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK) has launched its IPO to raise US$442 million at HK$38.00 per share. The shares will be listed on 7 July.
- I previously discussed the IPO in FWD Group IPO: The Investment Case.
- The IPO price implies a discount to peers’ multiples. A discount is warranted as FWD is smaller than its peers. FWD is fairly valued at the IPO price.
Anjoy Foods (2648 HK): Float Cap Restricts Global Index Inclusion
- Anjoy Foods Group (2648 HK) debuts on the HKEX on 4 July, at a market cap of ~$2.8bn, raising ~$340m.
- The security is expected to fail the minimum float cap threshold of Global-F and therefore be excluded even after the lock-up expiry.
- Anjoy Foods Group (2648 HK) can be added to Global-M at the November 2025 review if its market cap is assigned to the SmallCap segment.
FWD IPO Valuation: Intangible Assets Is the Key (Vs. Peers)
- Based on HKD 38 offer price per share, FWD has a market capitalization of USD 6.1 billion, assuming the overallotment option is not exercised.
- FWD’s P/FY’24 pro forma BV represents a significant discount to peers’ trading P/FY’24 BV since it has higher-than-peers intangible assets.
- P/EV might be a fairer approach as it excludes intangible assets. On this basis, FWD valuation almost has no discount.
Lucror Analytics – Morning Views Asia
- In today’s Morning Views publication we comment on developments of the following high yield issuers: Seazen Group, Shui On Land, West China Cement
- Front-end UST yields continued to decline yesterday, as the market priced in higher expectations for Fed easing, and on the back of a reasonable auction of 5Y notes.
- The yield on the 2Y UST fell 4 bps to 3.78%, while that on the 10Y UST was unchanged at 4.29%. Equities hovered near a record high level, with the S&P 500 flat at 6,092, while the Nasdaq rose 0.3% to 19,974.
VIOT: Viomi hits a few speed bumps in the road. Adjusting our valuation target to 4.00
- Viomi recently launched a new filtration system that produces mineral water-like output, which could be a differentiated product in the market, enabling Viomi to gain a share in an increasingly crowded filtration market.
- The company’s inability to file a timely 20-F with the SEC, combined with a recent change in auditors, will likely raise concerns among investors.
- Viomi’s strong balance sheet could enable it to pursue multiple growth strategies (expansion, new products, M&A) over the next 3-5 years.