(Yicai Global) Sept.11 -- Chinese technology, media and telecom companiesfloated26initial public offerings in the first half,down47 percent fromlast year,perdataUK-based professional services firmPricewaterhouseCoopersreleasedtoday.This is a drop ofnearlyone-half.

Tauteradministration ofthe A-share market is the major causeofthe fall inTMT companyIPOs, Cai Zhifeng, PwC's managing partnerfortheChinese mediasector, told Yicai Global.Examinationsand approvalsslowedin the first halfasregulation and verificationbecame more stringent,raising the bar for entry intothe A-share market. New rules implementedthis yearare also buffing Hong Kong's luster, as are itsadvantages in listing costsand price-earnings ratios,which is one reasonthe ranks ofTMTfirmsvoting with their feetfor theHong Kongbourse are growing.

MI Group and China Tower finished IPOs in successionon Hong Kong Exchanges and ClearinginJuly. This year is a bumperonefor Hong KongIPOs, with the special administrative region'smarketseen asone of the most popular public financing markets in the second halfin mainlandChina, Hong Kong and all over the world,said Zhou Weiran, PwC's managing partnerforthe TMTfield.

New economyfirms listed in Hong Kongconfrontcrisis, however,astheir stock pricesslump belowtheirIPO prices.Beijing-based Xiaomi's sharepricedroppedto HKD16/share (USD2.04) on the first day, 6 percentunderits HKD17IPO price. China Tower's stock priceslippedbelow its IPO priceofHKD1.26and closedat HKD1.23, 2.4percentlower than the IPO price onitssixth dayof listing.

Chinese TMT companies' IPO financing amount totaledCNY57.8 billion(USD8.5 billion)in arise of15 percentonthe previous year, though IPOs decreasedin quantity because several giant companies finishedtheirsin the first half.For example,the listing ofFoxconn Industrial Internet [SHA:601138]netted up toCNY27 billion (USD4 billion).

A-share companiesare loggingan overall decline in theirprice-earnings ratios, Zhousaid. TMT companies have stronger capacityto withstandpressurethanthosein otherareas, andsotheirmarkets willrebound. Giant TMTconcerns listed overseaswill enjoyhigher price-earnings ratiosthan those in A-sharesand will increase thoseoftheirsectors as wellafter they return to the A-sharefoldwith the clarification ofcorporate debt restructuringrules.

Editor: Ben Armour