Shein starts with a significant loss on the Hong Kong stock exchange

The shopping platform Shein went public today with a significant loss. In the first minutes after trading began in the financial metropolis of Hong Kong, the share was around eight percent below the issue price of 48.56 Hong Kong dollars. With the IPO, the Singapore-based company raised around $1.7 billion and has a valuation of around $26.5 billion.

The platform had to wait a few years to launch on the stock market. The company, which was founded in China and relocated its headquarters to Singapore between 2021 and 2022, had previously tried to go public in the financial centers of London and New York. However, Shein reportedly failed due to resistance from Beijing.

Business under pressure

Since the quarrels surrounding the IPO, the hype surrounding the online retailer among investors has noticeably decreased. In previous private financing rounds such as 2022, Shein was valued at almost $100 billion. But a lot has changed since then. In the first three months of this half year, the company reported a loss of $99 million.

Recently, business was affected by new customs regulations in the important markets of the USA and Europe. This means that the import of packages with low value of goods is also taxed. In addition, with the conflict in the Middle East, transport costs increased and demand in the region collapsed.

According to Shein, she now wants to invest the money from the IPO in its technical infrastructure and strengthening its own brand. The group sells its products in more than 150 countries. Shein has around 130 million users in Europe and claims to have 273 million customers worldwide.