On December 30, Kingsoft Cloud (HKG: 3896) was officially listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the “finale” of homecoming listing of Chinese ADRs in 2022. The dual-primary listing provides investors with greater protection and flexibility in terms of trading venues and hours, while listing by way of introduction prevents dilution and regarded as responsible for existing shareholders.
With deep devotion on and cultivation of the industry for ten years, Kingsoft Cloud adhered to building a technology-based business, stayed at the frontier of cloud-native, hybrid cloud, big data and other cutting-edge technologies, and achieved industry practice-and-technology integration. In combination with in-depth understanding of strategically selected verticals, Kingsoft Cloud accomplished fast growth in both business scale and financials. Total premium customers increased from 243 in 2019 to 597 in 2021; revenue CAGR between 2019 and 2021 was 51.3%, significantly outpacing the broader industry’s 36.4%.
In the past year, the overall industry was under pressure due to market headwinds and the impact of COVID-19. Kingsoft Cloud made proactive adjustments, allocated resources in favor of more profitable products and projects to achieve improved sustainability, profitability and operating cash flow. A number of analysts noted that the Company’s gross margin improved significantly in recent 3 quarters, and recorded operating cash inflow for 2 consecutive quarters, well received by the market such that the Company’s share price has nearly doubled from the end of September to December 28. Analysts pointed out that such financial improvements are expected to continue, laying a solid foundation for the stock price to further recover.
Kingsoft Cloud has always been strongly supported by the strategic shareholders Xiaomi and Kingsoft Group. According to the management in recent results roadshow, Kingsoft Cloud, in its future development, will further strengthen collaboration with strategic shareholders in their digital transformation, as well as with the broader ecosystem, and actively explore opportunities in high-value verticals. It is noted that there are 800+ enterprises in the Lei Jun Ecosystem, among which Xiaomi and Kingsoft Group alone have many businesses that are inherently highly compatible with cloud computing, such as office collaboration, gaming, IoT, smartphone cloud storage and computing, as well as electric vehicle. All of these are potential growth opportunities that Kingsoft Cloud may actively explore out of its proximity advantages.
Zou Tao, Vice Chairman and CEO of Kingsoft Cloud, said, “Listing in Hong Kong is an important milestone in the Company’s 10th anniversary, and the Company stands ready for the new decade. First, we will continue to invest in technology, focus on core business, and return to the essence and original aspiration of cloud; second, we will evaluate customers and projects, control costs, balance revenue scale and profitability; meanwhile, we will strengthen ecological synergy, tap into high-quality business opportunities in strategically selected verticals.”
He Haijian, CFO of Kingsoft Cloud, also said, “Primary listing in Hong Kong will broaden our investor base, facilitate our participation in Hong Kong Stock Connect, and open up investment cooperation channels to more Chinese mainland investors. We will maintain the structure of the one-share-one-vote, which is rare among Chinese ADRs, and widely respect and adopt the advice of public investors. We will continue to attach importance to ESG and data security to ensure the stability and security of our services. “