FWD Group debuts on Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The shares opened at HK$38 ($4.94), matching the IPO offer price. By the close of trading, FWD shares settled at HK$38.40, as per various media sources.
The insurer's IPO raised HK$3.5bn($442m) through the sale of 91.34 million shares priced at HK$38 each, valuing the company at HK$48.3bn.
The insurer plans to utilise the net proceeds from the IPO to bolster its capital position and financial flexibility.
The funds may be directed towards reducing debt and supporting expansion efforts, including strategies to enhance digital capabilities and increase market penetration across its operations.
Morgan Stanley Asia and Goldman Sachs Asia were appointed as joint sponsors, joint global coordinators, joint bookrunners, and joint lead managers for the offering.
Commenting on the debut, Richard Li said: 'FWD Group is an international team of financial professionals focused on the fastest-growing insurance market in the world – Asia. Today's listing is an important milestone for our customers, our partners and our teams across Asia, and highlights Hong Kong's continued strength as a good listing destination.'
The successful listing represents FWD Group's third attempt to go public.
This includes a planned New York IPO in 2021 targeting $2–3bn, which was halted due to regulatory approval delays in the US, with particular attention given to the company's ties to mainland China.
Another attempt for a Hong Kong IPO in 2022 was postponed in response to volatile global financial markets.
"FWD Group debuts on Hong Kong Stock Exchange " was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand.
The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
9 minutes ago
- USA Today
Unemployment among Black Americans is rising. Why that may be a bad sign for the economy.
The surge in unemployment among Black Americans could be a troubling sign for the economy, since this segment is often the first hit by economic downturns. While economists have viewed the U.S. labor market as resilient in recent months, some warn that cracks have started to emerge – including among the country's Black workforce. The unemployment rate for Black Americans hit 7.2% in July, up from 6.3% a year ago and 6.8% the month prior, according to the most recent jobs report from the Labor Department. The most recent surge follows an eye-popping 13% increase from May to June and puts the metric well above the total unemployment rate of 4.2%. Black women in particular have seen a dramatic increase in unemployment over the past year, from 5.5% to 6.3%. Certain states are also seeing exceptionally high unemployment rates for Black people, with some, including Michigan, hovering near 10%, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. Economists say the surge in unemployment for Black people this year could be a troubling sign for the economy at large, since this segment is often the first hit by economic downturns. Other ethnic groups may already be seeing the effects of a weakening labor market; unemployment rates among White, Asian and Hispanic or Latino workers ticked up 0.1, 0.4 and 0.2 percentage points in July, respectively. Plus, the picture of a strong labor market took a hit with the release of the most recent jobs report, which showed payroll gains for May and June were revised downward by 258,000. "The Black unemployment rate is always the first to go up. That's always the canary in the coal mine,' said Gbenga Ajilore, chief economist at the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Why are unemployment rates among Black workers increasing? Economists told USA TODAY the recent job cuts within the federal government could be hitting Black workers especially hard because they make up a significant share of the workforce. Overall, Black Americans account for 18% of the federal workforce as of September, compared to 12% of the overall workforce, according to a May National Women's Law Center report. Black employees make up an even larger share at some of the agencies that have seen some of the most severe job cuts, like the Department of Education (36%), U.S. Agency for International Development (21%) and the Health and Human Services Department (20.5%), according to September figures from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The difference is even more stark for Black women, who made up roughly 12% of the federal workforce, nearly twice their participation rate in the civilian labor force, according to 2021 data from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 'This has been a place where Black people are disproportionately more likely to get jobs – better jobs, well-paying jobs,' Ajilore said. Economists point to business uncertainty under the country's shifting trade policy as another potential driver, with companies pausing major decisions like hiring until they have a better understanding of how tariffs will impact their bottom line. A recent survey from the National Association for Business Economics found 1-in-4 companies plan to delay hiring or investments over the next six months. The Trump administration's push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs in the federal government, education and the private sector could also play a role in the recent unemployment figures, creating an 'antagonistic posture against the Black workforce" that may be hurting Black hiring rates, according to Andre Perry, a senior fellow and director of the Center for Community Uplift at the Brookings Institution. DEI programs often fell short of their goal to close racial gaps – Black Americans are still outnumbered 12 to 1 by White people in executive roles, for instance. But the pullback may still impact Black Americans' careers and the diversity of executive suites. USA TODAY previously reported that in 2023, as the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions and conservative groups targeted DEI efforts at dozens of companies, the ranks of Black executives fell 3% from the prior year, twice the rate of White executives. "It's one of those things where I think it plays a role (in this year's unemployment data), but it's so difficult to actually pinpoint,' said Ajilore. "There's no smoking gun." And while Black employees have benefited from a tight labor market in recent years, he said they may now be more at risk of "last hired, first fired," or the practice of letting the most recently hired employees first, as the labor market cools. Which states have the highest unemployment rates among Black Americans? Certain communities have seen even more dramatic unemployment gains among Black workers. In Michigan, the unemployment rate for Black people hit 10% in the first quarter – nearly double the state's total unemployment rate and up 3.2% from 2020, according to the Economic Policy Institute. South Carolina's rate jumped 3% to 6.9% in that time frame. South Dakota, Alabama and Maryland had some of the lowest rates at 2.8%, 4.3% and 4.3%, respectively. 'The aggregate (labor market) numbers really mask what's going on at the local level,' Perry said. 'So you see in some places, Black people are in a recession by the looks of it. In other places, Black employment is faring much better.' Is this a warning for the economy? Elizabeth Crofoot, senior economist and principal researcher at Lightcast, said recent employment data is 'alarming." While she said it was unclear based on earlier figures if the unemployment surge for Black Americans was caused by blips in the data from small sample sizes, she said July's data paints a more detailed picture of declining Black labor force participation. "The labor market data from BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics), it's volatile month to month – especially because those response rates are not as high as they used to be, so there is a lot of noise in the data,' she said. But "this is looking like an emerging trend." That could spell bad news for the economy at large. Crofoot said unemployment among Black people tends to rise first in a weakening economy, "oftentimes due to equity issues." She pointed to occupational segregation ‒ when different demographic groups are more likely to be concentrated in certain parts of the workforce ‒ as one driver, pointing to how Black employees have a stronger presence in some of the industries that have seen job declines such as the federal workforce, manufacturing (which shed 11,000 jobs between June and July), wholesale trade (which lost 7,800 jobs). "There are certain sectors of the economy where there are more African Americans ... and typically those jobs are also not the best jobs," she said. "Especially in retail, for example, or lower-end health care sector jobs." Ajilore pointed to Labor Department data that shows more than 300,000 Black women lost their jobs in the first half of 2025 as another sign the rise could be the start of a long-term trend. Rising unemployment for Black Americans may not be the only crack in the labor market data. Recent graduates have struggled to find work amid the rise of artificial intelligence and business uncertainty related to tariffs. And job gains this year have been concentrated in areas like health care; leisure and hospitality; and among state and local governments. Overall, U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, below the 105,000 economists expected. "The labor market is slowing down," Ajilore said. "It's one of those things where looking at Black unemployment rate and Black labor market indicators told us this story was coming."
NBC News
10 minutes ago
- NBC News
Modi was ready to 'make India great again,' then Trump put America first
The U.S. and India 's blossoming friendship is at risk of falling to pieces, observers have warned, as President Donald Trump threatens to substantially increase tariffs on Indian goods over its purchases of Russian oil. At the start of the year, India seemed to be one of the countries most likely to win Trump's favor, given its growing role as an Asian counterweight to China and Trump's close relationship with its leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But U.S. relations with India have instead come under strain over trade and other issues. Trump has threatened Apple and other companies that manufacture in India, moved closer to its biggest rival, Pakistan, and mocked India's 'dead' economy. 'He's threatening to undo, or at least hit pause on, what has been two decades of steadily improving relations between India and the U.S.,' said Dhruva Jaishankar, executive director of the Observer Research Foundation America, a nonprofit group in Washington. On Monday, citing India's 'massive' purchases of Russian oil, Trump said he would 'substantially' increase the U.S. tariff on Indian imports, which is already one of the highest among Asian countries at 25%. Along with China, India is a top purchaser of Russian crude oil sanctioned by Western governments after Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In a sharp response, India, a major U.S. security partner, said such criticism was 'unjustified and unreasonable' and that it bought Russian oil with U.S. support. 'India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict,' the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement Monday. 'The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability.' The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S.-India tensions are mounting domestic political pressure on Modi, with opponents accusing him of failing to stand up to his 'dear friend' Trump. 'The country is now bearing the cost of Narendra Modi's 'friendship,'' the opposition Congress party said last week. 'I don't want you building in India' It was a different picture in February, when Modi was among the first world leaders to visit the White House after Trump returned to office. Mirroring Trump, he said he too would 'make India great again.' The bonhomie did not last long. Since then, Trump has needled India over a number of issues, including billions in investment by American companies as they shift manufacturing from China. Last quarter, India produced 44% of U.S. smartphone imports, more than any other country including China, according to data from the research firm Canalys. That includes iPhones sold in the U.S., the majority of which Apple chief executive Tim Cook says will have India as their country of origin starting this quarter. 'I don't want you building in India,' Trump said he told Cook in May, urging him to produce phones in the U.S. instead, despite the difficulties. Cozying up to India's foe A terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 26 people in April is another source of friction in U.S.-India relations. India responded by bombing neighboring Pakistan, which it has long accused of harboring terrorists, resulting in a four-day conflict that threatened to explode into a broader war fueled by decades of tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries. Trump irked India by repeatedly claiming that he had personally brokered a ceasefire. While Islamabad thanked Trump for mediating, India rejected claims of U.S. involvement, including in a call between Modi and Trump. 'India has not endorsed Trump's claim,' said Amitendu Palit, a former Indian finance ministry official and a senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. 'That has not gone down very well with Trump,' he said. Within weeks, Trump hosted Pakistan's powerful army chief at the White House in an unprecedented meeting. He has also imposed a lower tariff rate on Pakistan of 19% and said the U.S. had reached a deal with Pakistan on exploring its oil reserves. Squeezed over Russia As Trump has expressed growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he has turned his attention to India's relationship with Moscow. For years, New Delhi has benefited from its 'non-aligned' foreign policy, which allowed India to strengthen U.S. ties while continuing its longstanding relationship with Russia, one of its main suppliers of energy and military equipment. When Russian oil was hit with Western-led sanctions over Ukraine, India — the third-largest energy consumer in the world after China and the U.S. — seized the opportunity to buy it at a discount, which even U.S. officials said helped stabilize global oil prices. 'They bought Russian oil because we wanted somebody to buy Russian oil,' Eric Garcetti, the U.S. ambassador to India under former President Joe Biden, said at a conference last year. 'It was actually the design of the policy, because as a commodity we didn't want oil prices going up.' The U.S. position on India's oil purchases appears to have reversed under Trump, who said in a social media post last week that India and Russia 'can take their dead economies down together.' 'We are now at a stage where the American ability to control Russia and its allies is beginning to impact India,' Palit said. Jaishankar said that while Trump's actions won't push India out of America's orbit, they could drive India to strengthen ties with other countries such as China. During a meeting of their foreign ministers in Beijing last month, India and China agreed to resume direct flights between their countries for the first time in five years. Despite the recent setbacks in their relationship, India will continue to engage with the U.S. as a key strategic and technological partner, said Chietigj Bajpaee, a senior research fellow for South Asia at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. 'But I think it's a wake-up call of sorts,' he said.
Associated Press
10 minutes ago
- Associated Press
GDS Announces Official Listing and Trading of its C-REIT on the Shanghai Stock Exchange from 8 August, 2025
SHANGHAI, China, Aug. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GDS Holdings Limited ('GDS Holdings', 'GDS' or the 'Company') (NASDAQ: GDS; HKEX: 9698), a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China, today announced that its previously announced China REIT ('C-REIT') will be officially listed and start trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange from 8 August, 2025, under the fund code 508060. About GDS Holdings Limited GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: GDS; HKEX: 9698) is a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China. The Company's facilities are strategically located in and around primary economic hubs where demand for high-performance data center services is concentrated. The Company's data centers have large net floor area, high power capacity, density and efficiency, and multiple redundancies across all critical systems. GDS is carrier and cloud-neutral, which enables its customers to access the major telecommunications networks, as well as the largest PRC and global public clouds, which are hosted in many of its facilities. The Company offers co-location and a suite of value-added services, including managed hybrid cloud services through direct private connection to leading public clouds, managed network services, and, where required, the resale of public cloud services. The Company has a 24-year track record of service delivery, successfully fulfilling the requirements of some of the largest and most demanding customers for outsourced data center services in China. The Company's customer base consists predominantly of hyperscale cloud service providers, large internet companies, financial institutions, telecommunications carriers, IT service providers, and large domestic private sector and multinational corporations. The Company also holds a non-controlling 35.6% equity interest in DayOne Data Centers Limited which develops and operates data centers in International markets. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: GDS Holdings Limited Laura Chen Phone: +86 (21) 2029-2203 Email: [email protected] Piacente Financial Communications Ross Warner Phone: +86 (10) 6508-0677 Email: [email protected] Brandi Piacente Phone: +1 (212) 481-2050 Email: [email protected] GDS Holdings Limited
