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/trip-com-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:180:1" rel="noopener">Trip.com (TCOM US)</a> has launched a $1.4 billion secondary listing in Hong Kong by offering 31.6 million ordinary shares. Bookbuilding is scheduled to run until the pricing on 13 April. The net proceeds will be used to fund the expansion of its travel offerings, improve user experience and invest in technology. </p></div><div><p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trip-com-secondary-listing-no-heads-in-the-clouds" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49965" rel="noopener">Trip.com Secondary Listing: No Heads in the Clouds</a>, we outlined our views on Trip.com’s fundamentals and valuation. Trip.com is a play on the expected reopening and recovery of travel in 2021 due to the global rollout of vaccines. In combination with the potential valuation upside to the last close price (based on SoTP), we concluded that the equity story is attractive. </p></div><div><div>
<p>In this note, we will look at Trip.com’s potential HK-ADS premium/(discount). As per the norm, Trip.com will price its H-shares at a discount to its ADSs to entice investors to participate in the secondary listing. However, market conditions remain volatile and Chinese tech names are losing their shine due to the US delisting threat and the trend of investors rotating out of tech stocks. The NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index is down -18% since March 2021. Trip.com shares are up 15% YTD but down -2% since March 2021.  </p>
<div class="content-highlight"><p>Due to the weakening market sentiment on Chinese tech names, Trip.com will likely price its H-shares at a wider discount than the median of past secondary listings. Trip.com pricing its H-shares at a discount of 3-4% to its ADSs will be reasonable, in our view.</p></div>
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Trip.com (TCOM US) has launched a $1.4 billion secondary listing in Hong Kong by offering 31.6 million ordinary shares. Bookbuilding is scheduled to run until the pricing on 13 April. The net proceeds will be used to fund the expansion of its travel offerings, improve user experience and invest in technology. In Trip.com Secondary Listing: No Heads in the Clouds, we outlined our views on Trip.com’s fundamentals and valuation. Trip.com is a play on the expected reopening and recovery of travel in 2021 due to the global rollout of vaccines. In combination with the potential valuation upside to the last close price (based on SoTP), we concluded that the equity story is attractive. 
In this note, we will look at Trip.com’s potential HK-ADS premium/(discount). As per the norm, Trip.com will price its H-shares at a discount to its ADSs to entice investors to participate in the secondary listing. However, market conditions remain volatile and Chinese tech names are losing their shine due to the US delisting threat and the trend of investors rotating out of tech stocks. The NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index is down -18% since March 2021. Trip.com shares are up 15% YTD but down -2% since March 2021.  
Due to the weakening market sentiment on Chinese tech names, Trip.com will likely price its H-shares at a wider discount than the median of past secondary listings. Trip.com pricing its H-shares at a discount of 3-4% to its ADSs will be reasonable, in our view.


Trip.com Secondary Listing: HK-ADS Premium/​​(Discount) Views

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/trip-com-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:180:1" rel="noopener">Trip.com (TCOM US)</a> is a leading one-stop travel platform that currently operates through four leading travel brands which are Ctrip, Qunar, Trip.com and Skyscanner. Trip.com passed its Hong Kong listing committee hearing and could raise up to $1-2 billion through a secondary listing, according to press reports. </p><p>Trip.com is braving choppy markets and waning investor enthusiasm on secondary listings/IPOs. The recent Hong Kong secondary listings of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/autohome-inc-adr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20234:1" rel="noopener">Autohome Inc (Adr) (ATHM US)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bilibili-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26793:1" rel="noopener">Bilibili Inc (BILI US)</a> are trading 3% and 8% above their H-share listing price, respectively. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:179:1" rel="noopener">Baidu (BIDU US)</a> is trading -13% below its H-share listing price largely due to the fallout from the fire sale at Archegos Capital.   </p><div class="content-highlight"><p>Trip.com is a play on the expected reopening and recovery of travel in 2021 due to the global rollout of vaccines. In the post-pandemic world, Trip.com aims to cement its market share gains through strengthening its supply chain (such as short-distance travel), higher conversion via content investment (such as live streaming) and rising penetration in lower-tier cities (&gt;40% of new mobile app users in 2020 were from lower-tier cities). We think that Trip.com is an attractive play on travel recovery at the last close price. </p></div>

Trip.com (TCOM US) is a leading one-stop travel platform that currently operates through four leading travel brands which are Ctrip, Qunar, Trip.com and Skyscanner. Trip.com passed its Hong Kong listing committee hearing and could raise up to $1-2 billion through a secondary listing, according to press reports. Trip.com is braving choppy markets and waning investor enthusiasm on secondary listings/IPOs. The recent Hong Kong secondary listings of Autohome Inc (Adr) (ATHM US) and Bilibili Inc (BILI US) are trading 3% and 8% above their H-share listing price, respectively. Baidu (BIDU US) is trading -13% below its H-share listing price largely due to the fallout from the fire sale at Archegos Capital.   Trip.com is a play on the expected reopening and recovery of travel in 2021 due to the global rollout of vaccines. In the post-pandemic world, Trip.com aims to cement its market share gains through strengthening its supply chain (such as short-distance travel), higher conversion via content investment (such as live streaming) and rising penetration in lower-tier cities (&gt;40% of new mobile app users in 2020 were from lower-tier cities). We think that Trip.com is an attractive play on travel recovery at the last close price. 

Trip.com Secondary Listing: No Heads in the Clouds

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport, Tracking Traffic

Daniel Hellberg

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport

Tracking Traffic

Focusing on Asian logistics, transportation, and travel companies

Equity Bottom-Up

<section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/179/678/original/BANNER-TTOtherDec20_GreyOrange.png?1608575984" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="179678"></figure></section><p>We launched this product about a month ago, promising to revisit our suggested pair trades every month or so. Returns on our three pair trade ideas since December 4? Not good, not good at all!</p><p>If we consider only four of the six names that make up our three suggested pair trades, the portfolio returned a measly +0.2% between December 4 and January 6 (not including costs of trading). However, the two positions that moved <em>hard</em> against us -- which in reality we probably would have been forced to exit due to stop-loss orders -- resulted in a <em>big</em> loss for the portfolio. </p><p>What happened? Unfortunately, we stepped in front of a surge in momentum in two small-cap names, one on the Long side and one one the Short side. We still believe longer-term trends favor these positions, but in the near-term,  price action simply overwhelmed our investment theses. </p><p>Despite the substantial paper losses, we're sticking to our guns and keeping the portfolio as-is. We'll be back in a month or so with another update, hopefully with better returns to report.</p>

We launched this product about a month ago, promising to revisit our suggested pair trades every month or so. Returns on our three pair trade ideas since December 4? Not good, not good at all!If we consider only four of the six names that make up our three suggested pair trades, the portfolio returned a measly +0.2% between December 4 and January 6 (not including costs of trading). However, the two positions that moved hard against us -- which in reality we probably would have been forced to exit due to stop-loss orders -- resulted in a big loss for the portfolio. What happened? Unfortunately, we stepped in front of a surge in momentum in two small-cap names, one on the Long side and one one the Short side. We still believe longer-term trends favor these positions, but in the near-term,  price action simply overwhelmed our investment theses. Despite the substantial paper losses, we're sticking to our guns and keeping the portfolio as-is. We'll be back in a month or so with another update, hopefully with better returns to report.

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Pair Trades Update: 'Want to See a Dead Body?' (January 7 2021)

<section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/179/973/original/BANNER-TourDec20.png?1608779882" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="179973"></figure></section><p><em>Outbound</em> Chinese tourism activity remained dormant in November. Macau's recovery slowed, and the appearance of a new variant of the Covid19 virus suggests a potential recovery in Chinese outbound travel may be pushed back until at least the middle of 2021, maybe later. </p><p>To our surprise, the recovery in <em>domestic</em> Chinese tourism also appears to have lost steam in November. Passenger counts at the three major national airlines fell YoY, and overall activity was well below that of October. Chinese consumers remain cautious towards discretionary travel. </p><p>We believe Chinese travel demand <em>will</em> recover gradually in 2021, and that the recovery could gain momentum in the second half of the year. Still, the emergence of a new strain of the virus will likely cap outbound travel in the near-term, and it also appears the rebound in domestic demand is moderating. For now, we would avoid pricey travel-related stocks like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/trip-com-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:180:1" rel="noopener">Trip.com (TCOM US)</a>.</p>

Outbound Chinese tourism activity remained dormant in November. Macau's recovery slowed, and the appearance of a new variant of the Covid19 virus suggests a potential recovery in Chinese outbound travel may be pushed back until at least the middle of 2021, maybe later. To our surprise, the recovery in domestic Chinese tourism also appears to have lost steam in November. Passenger counts at the three major national airlines fell YoY, and overall activity was well below that of October. Chinese consumers remain cautious towards discretionary travel. We believe Chinese travel demand will recover gradually in 2021, and that the recovery could gain momentum in the second half of the year. Still, the emergence of a new strain of the virus will likely cap outbound travel in the near-term, and it also appears the rebound in domestic demand is moderating. For now, we would avoid pricey travel-related stocks like Trip.com (TCOM US).

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Chinese Tourism: Domestic Recovery Lost Steam in November

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<p>On December 26th, Beijing’s municipal government responded to a fresh outbreak of Covid19 by ordering residents to stay at home during the upcoming Lunar New Year (LNY) holiday. LNY falls on February 12th next year, barely six weeks from now.  </p>
<p>The bad news out of Beijing highlights an important risk to Chinese travel-related companies: that yet <em>another</em> important holiday period could effectively be lost to Covid19. If the restrictions put in place by local authorities in Beijing extend to other large cities or provinces, it could push back a recovery in Chinese travel demand until Summer 2021 or even Golden Week, in October 2021.</p>
<p>In this note we explain why LNY travel matters, and why we now believe normal levels of LNY travel may again be lost in 2021. We also point to the example of Macau, which continues to see sub-par tourism demand five months after it eased travel restrictions for some Chinese visitors.</p>




On December 26th, Beijing’s municipal government responded to a fresh outbreak of Covid19 by ordering residents to stay at home during the upcoming Lunar New Year (LNY) holiday. LNY falls on February 12th next year, barely six weeks from now.  
The bad news out of Beijing highlights an important risk to Chinese travel-related companies: that yet another important holiday period could effectively be lost to Covid19. If the restrictions put in place by local authorities in Beijing extend to other large cities or provinces, it could push back a recovery in Chinese travel demand until Summer 2021 or even Golden Week, in October 2021.
In this note we explain why LNY travel matters, and why we now believe normal levels of LNY travel may again be lost in 2021. We also point to the example of Macau, which continues to see sub-par tourism demand five months after it eased travel restrictions for some Chinese visitors.

Dreams Deferred: Looks Like Lunar New Year Travel Demand May Be Lost

China

Tongcheng Travel Holdings Limited operates as an online travel agency. The Company provides transportation ticketing, accommodation reservation, value added travel products sales, and other services. Tongcheng Travel Holdings provides its services throughout China.

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Tongcheng Travel Holdings (780 HK)

Trip.com Secondary Listing: HK-ADS Premium/(Discount) Views

Trip.com has launched a $1.4 bn secondary listing in Hong Kong. In the context of the weakening market sentiment, Trip.com pricing its H-shares at...

Arun George

Trip.com Secondary Listing: No Heads in the Clouds

Trip.com passed its HKEx listing hearing to raise up to $1-2bn through a secondary listing. We think that Trip.com is an attractive play on travel...

Arun George

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Pair Trades Update: 'Want to See a Dead Body?' (January 7 2021)

One month in, our three suggested pair trades have generated returns ranging from "meh" to "You're fired!" In this note we take a look at what went...

Tracking Traffic

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Chinese Tourism: Domestic Recovery Lost Steam in November

It appears the nascent recovery in Chinese domestic tourism activity began to stall in November. Outbound travel activity remains dormant, and even...

Tracking Traffic

Dreams Deferred: Looks Like Lunar New Year Travel Demand May Be Lost

We now believe there is a better than even chance that much of the Chinese travel demand normally associated with LNY will be lost in 2021.

Tracking Traffic

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Trip.com Secondary Listing: HK-ADS Premium/​​(Discount) Views

Trip.com has launched a $1.4 bn secondary listing in Hong Kong. In the context of the weakening market sentiment, Trip.com pricing its H-shares at...

Arun George

Trip.com Secondary Listing: No Heads in the Clouds

Trip.com passed its HKEx listing hearing to raise up to $1-2bn through a secondary listing. We think that Trip.com is an attractive play on travel...

Arun George

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Pair Trades Update: 'Want to See a Dead Body?' (January 7 2021)

One month in, our three suggested pair trades have generated returns ranging from "meh" to "You're fired!" In this note we take a look at what went...

Tracking Traffic

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Chinese Tourism: Domestic Recovery Lost Steam in November

It appears the nascent recovery in Chinese domestic tourism activity began to stall in November. Outbound travel activity remains dormant, and even...

Tracking Traffic

Dreams Deferred: Looks Like Lunar New Year Travel Demand May Be Lost

We now believe there is a better than even chance that much of the Chinese travel demand normally associated with LNY will be lost in 2021.

Tracking Traffic

Trip.com Secondary Listing: HK-ADS Premium/(Discount) Views