＜IPO＞CN Jewellery Firm 'Zhou Liu Fu' Applies for HK Listing After Failing to List in A-shr Mkt Twice

　　Mainland jewellery company Zhou Liu Fu has submitted a listing application to SEHK, with CICC and China Securities as joint sponsors.

　　According to the preliminary prospectus, the company has 4,383 stores, of which 4,288 are franchised stores. The company mainly sells gold jewellery and diamond-set jewellery. Last year, the company recorded revenue of RMB5.15 billion, hiking 66% YoY, while net profit lifted 14.7% YoY to RMB660 million.

　　Zhou Liu Fu's prospectus showed that the company had proposed to list on the SZSE in 2019, but this A-share application was not approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in November 2020, as the regulator considered that its revenue from franchised shops accounted for a very high percentage of its overall revenue, which was higher than that of its peers. Subsequently, the company submitted another A-share listing application in June 2022, but then switched to applying for listing in Hong Kong in November last year in view of the consideration of its future development strategy and entry into overseas markets.

　　Established in 2004, Zhou Liu Fu is 91.05% owned by the Li Weipeng brothers as of June this year, with Legislative Council member Lau Kwok Fan as an independent non-executive director.

　　Zhou Liu Fu said the proceeds will be used to expand and strengthen its sales network, increase brand awareness, improve product offerings and enhance design and development capabilities, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

　　The company also indicated in the risk disclosure section that it has filed four lawsuits in the Mainland involving trademark infringement, unfair competition or commercial defamation, with a total of RMB72.05 million claimed in court.