China's Chery Auto applies for Hong Kong IPO

Recasts and writes through

SHANGHAI, Feb 28 (Reuters) - China's Chery Automobile has applied for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, seeking funds to develop new vehicles and technologies as well as to expand in global markets and improve domestic production facilities.

Its filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange did not detail the size of the IPO or when a listing might happen.

CICC, Huatai Securities and GF Securities were listed as joint sponsors.

Chery, China's largest exporter of passenger vehicles in 2023 and 2024, saw net profit jump 59% to 11.3 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in the first nine months of 2024, according to the filing.

Revenue surged 68% to 182.2 billion yuan.

Last year it was China's second-biggest car seller after BYD 1211.HK with 2.5 million vehicles sold, most of which were gasoline engine cars, industry data shows.

Its main export markets are Russia and Turkey. It also exports to Cuba and Egypt, according to the filing.

Chery said in the filing that it considers the risk of being sanctioned by the U.S. for operating in Russia low.

($1 = 7.2870 Chinese yuan)