Xioami has filed for an initial public offering of shares in Hong Kong. The move comes as the Chinese smartphone maker has expanded quickly to become the fourth-largest seller in the world. The IPO is expected to value the company at up to USD 100 billion.
The company did not say how many shares it will sell or at what price yet in the preliminary prospectus. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the offering is expected to be worth at least USD 10 billion, making it the biggest since Alibaba's debut in 2014.
Xiaomi did disclose its latest financial results, showing revenues rose 67.5 percent last year to CNY 114.6 billion. Operating profit jumped to CNY 12.2 billion from CNY 3.8 billion in 2016, while the net result was a loss of CNY 43.9 billion due to valuation charges for convertible shares. Excluding the charges, adjust net profit jumped to CNY 5.4 billion from CNY 1.9 billion.
The results show the company keeping within its recent pledge of a net profit margin of no more than 5 percent, a target repeated in the prospectus for Xiaomi's hardware business. Anything earned over 5 percent would be returned to Mi users. Chairman Lei Jun underlined the company's focus on delivering 'amazing products at honest prices' and said efficiency would remain core to the business.
