Helens International Holdings, which owns a leading pub network in China called Helen’s Bar, debuted on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Friday (Jul 19) in a secondary listing.
It currently has more than 500 outlets across mainland China and Hong Kong, as well as three branches in Singapore in popular areas such as Orchard Central and Chijmes.
Helens listed on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) in 2021, with a market capitalisation of about HK$30 billion (S$5.2 billion) after its debut. When it sought the initial public offering (IPO) on HKEX, the company was the largest bar chain in China by revenue in 2020, accounting for 1.1 per cent of the entire bar market. This shrank to less than 0.1 per cent of the estimated market size in 2023.
The Covid-19 pandemic hurt the consumer brand’s bottom line, resulting in a net loss of about 230 million yuan (S$42.6 million) in 2021, with the share price steadily declining since.
Revenue for the year ended Dec 31, 2023, sagged 22.5 per cent to 1.2 billion yuan, although the company returned to the black with a 180.5 million yuan net profit, reversing from a net loss of 1.6 billion yuan in the year-ago period.
The counter closed Thursday in Hong Kong at HK$2.17, down 89 per cent from its IPO price of HK$19.77. On Friday, in Singapore, Helens’ shares closed unchanged at S$0.365. Its HKEX counter closed 4.1 per cent down at HK$2.08.
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Niu Yi Jie, senior vice-president and international development manager of Helens, told The Business Times in Mandarin that the weakness in the share price reflects a mix of factors, including sluggish consumer sentiment in Hong Kong and mainland China. The company intends to overcome this with strong operations.
“This is also why we decided not to issue new shares – to avoid further dilution of the current share price,” he said, noting that the secondary listing is more for international visibility than for fundraising.
In an announcement on the proposed secondary listing on Jun 28 on HKEX, Helens noted: “While the proposed secondary listing will not involve any equity fundraising in Singapore… (it) will broaden the company’s shareholder base as well as its fundraising channels in future, which is in turn conducive to the promotion of the company’s corporate image and enhancement of the liquidity of its securities in the longer run.”
Niu emphasised that Helens is more than just a bar chain that serves Chinese overseas, but an international brand with a vision to tailor its operations to serve mainstream customers in different markets.
He noted that Helens opened its first Japan outlet in Tokyo in June, and one outlet in Los Angeles is set to open by the end of the year.
Bullish on the Asean market, Helens also has plans to build its presence in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, and will open its first batch of outlets in these markets within the year, Niu said.
He added that the company is also eyeing less central sites for its expansion within Singapore.
Helens said it is focusing on a platform-based expansion strategy, prioritising space creation and supply chain management, on top of building a scalable business model through its global network of outlets.
