The world's leading automotive PCB maker has officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On September 29, KINWONG (603228.SH / 03228.HK) broke its issue price on its first day of trading in Hong Kong, opening at HK$65 per share, down approximately 7% from its offer price of HK$69.88 per share. Notably, the H-share offer price represented a discount of roughly 37% compared to the A-share closing price of RMB 95 per share (approximately HK$111 per share) on September 28. During intraday trading, Kinwong's H-shares touched a low of HK$64.20 per share before recovering to HK$75.15 per share, up 7.40%, giving the company a combined A+H market capitalization of approximately RMB 100 billion.
In this Hong Kong IPO, Kinwong issued a total of 72.9443 million H-shares, of which 7.2945 million were allocated to the Hong Kong public offering and 65.6498 million to the international offering. Following the completion of the offering, Kinwong's total share capital increased to 1.074 billion shares. Controlling shareholders Liu Shaobai, Huang Xiaofen, Zhuo Jun and their concerted parties collectively hold 561 million shares, representing a 52.21% stake.
Against the backdrop of a booming PCB industry, Kinwong's Hong Kong listing attracted an exceptionally strong lineup of cornerstone investors. These include ZJ INNOLIGHT (300308.SZ / 03308.HK), a buyer of high-speed optical modules and communication equipment, as well as Hong Kong Maxsun Electronic Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Maxsun"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Han's CNC (301200.SZ / 03200.HK), and Kingboard Investments Limited (referred to as "Kingboard Investments"), an upstream supplier of PCB equipment and copper-clad laminates, along with fund companies such as Singularity Asset, E Fund, Tianhong Fund and Bosera Fund. The participation of Zhongji Innolight and Maxsun means that optical module customers and PCB equipment makers have formed equity ties with the company at the IPO stage, while Kingboard Investments' entry brings material synergies during the copper-clad laminate price increase cycle to the capital level ahead of schedule, pre-emptively digesting uncertainties in capacity expansion and gross margin volatility risks.
From a debt-ridden small factory to an automotive PCB leader, AI-related product revenue surges
Kinwong's starting point was a debt-laden small factory in Nanshan, Shenzhen. In 1993, Liu Shaobai and Huang Xiaofen took over the operation with approximately RMB 300,000 in startup capital, embarking on their entrepreneurial journey. In early 2000, Kinwong passed Motorola's domestic PCB certification with a 99.8% yield rate, thereby entering the communications supply chain. By 2003, the company's revenue had exceeded RMB 600 million. That same year, Kinwong expanded and relocated to Bao'an, Shenzhen, comprehensively upgrading production capacity, and the following year entered the FPC sector, beginning research and production of flexible circuit boards. In 2005, Kinwong established a factory in the Longchuan Industrial Transfer Park, implementing a group management model.
After establishing a foothold in communications and home appliances, Kinwong entered the automotive electronics sector in 2008. "Automakers have almost苛刻 requirements for reliability—if one PCB fails, it could lead to a recall of an entire batch of vehicles. But we saw the future—automotive demand for PCBs is larger in volume and higher in value," Liu Shaobai later admitted. Against this backdrop, Kinwong progressed from basic multilayer boards to millimeter-wave radar boards, lidar boards, and high-voltage-resistant PCBs for 400V/800V electrical platforms. By 2025, it ranked first with RMB 6.953 billion in automotive electronics PCB revenue and a 10.6% global market share, with products entering the world's top ten automotive groups.
In recent years, the global PCB industry has maintained a recovery momentum. By revenue, the global PCB market grew from US$69.5 billion in 2023 to US$85.2 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.7% from 2023 to 2025. Institutions estimate that the global PCB market will reach US$123.3 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 7.7% from 2025 to 2030.
Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research, said in an interview with Time Finance that the heavyweight demand from three major markets—AI computing power, new energy vehicles and communication equipment—combined with upstream copper-clad laminate shortages boosting supply chain stocking demand, has led to an explosion in PCB demand. "AI servers and automotive electronics currently show the most obvious market demand, developing very rapidly. Global computing infrastructure continues to race forward, and in the medium to long term, it will continue to support demand for high-end PCBs, driving sustained market growth," Zhang Yi stated.
After more than 30 years of development, Kinwong has formed a "1+1+N" business layout: automotive electronics as the pillar, communications and data infrastructure as the focus, and smart devices, industrial control, energy and medical as N high-potential businesses. As AI servers drive up demand for high-speed, multilayer and HDI-capable high-end PCBs, Kinwong's communications and data infrastructure revenue share and gross margin have also been rising. By end market, in 2025 Kinwong achieved revenue of RMB 6.953 billion, RMB 3.705 billion, RMB 2.124 billion and RMB 1.591 billion from automotive electronics, smart devices, industrial control and medical equipment, and communications and data infrastructure, respectively, accounting for 45.40%, 24.20%, 13.90% and 10.40%. In the first four months of this year, the revenue share of its communications and data infrastructure PCB products rose to 15.60%, reaching RMB 833 million, a year-on-year increase of over 114%.
Kinwong stated that it has mass-produced high-end PCBs applicable to AI computing infrastructure and other fields, including 40-plus-layer high-multilayer PCBs, 6-order 22-layer HDI PCBs, 14-layer HDI PCBs using mSAP process, and multilayer PTFE FPCs. It also possesses manufacturing capabilities for 70-plus-layer high-multilayer PCBs, 9-order 28-layer HDI PCBs, 12-layer any-layer rigid-flex boards and high-speed FPCs, and the customer certification process for 11-order HDI PCBs has already been initiated.
The prospectus shows that from 2023 to 2025, Kinwong's gross margins for communications and data infrastructure were 4.60%, 8.80% and 13.30%, respectively, mainly due to increased production driving higher capacity utilization and increased revenue contribution from AI-related PCB products. In 2025, Kinwong's AI-related PCB product revenue reached RMB 198 million, surging 1266.90% year-on-year. In the first four months of 2026, this revenue further grew to RMB 268 million. Nevertheless, Kinwong admitted in its prospectus that the gross margin benefit from increased contribution of high-margin AI-related PCB products was offset by continued increases in raw material prices and initial capacity ramp-up costs at new production bases. From 2023 to 2025, Kinwong's gross margin gradually declined to 23.20%, 22.70% and 21.60%, respectively. In the first four months of 2026, its gross margin further dropped to 18.70%.
This is also reflected in Kinwong's financial statements. In recent years, Kinwong's performance has shown a pattern of "revenue running fast, profit following slowly." From 2023 to 2025, it achieved revenue of RMB 10.757 billion, RMB 12.659 billion and RMB 15.308 billion, respectively, with a three-year CAGR of 19.26%. Net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 936 million, RMB 1.169 billion and RMB 1.231 billion, respectively, with a three-year CAGR of 14.67%. In the first half of this year, Kinwong achieved revenue of RMB 8.611 billion, up 21.37% year-on-year, but net profit attributable to shareholders fell 7.38% year-on-year to RMB 602 million. Among this, affected by RMB appreciation, the company recorded a foreign exchange loss of RMB 123 million, compared to a foreign exchange gain of RMB 38 million in the same period of 2025, with the foreign exchange impact on net profit exceeding RMB 150 million.
Rising debt ratio, 60% of Hong Kong fundraising earmarked for high-end capacity
Currently, the PCB industry has entered a phase of "steady total growth, structural differentiation." Prismark estimates that AI computing power improvement will become the core driver of structural growth in the PCB industry, with the server/data storage segment expected to achieve a CAGR of 15.80% from 2025 to 2030, far exceeding other segments. The market size for 18-plus-layer multilayer boards and HDI is expected to grow 79% and 23% year-on-year in 2026, with CAGRs of approximately 30.30% and 13.10% from 2025 to 2030.
In Zhang Yi's view, companies that outperform the PCB cycle long-term need the ability to control costs through integrated centralized procurement, independent process capabilities for high-end boards, brand endorsement by binding with leading end customers, and supply chain coordination and rapid mass production delivery capabilities—all of which require sustained and stable R&D investment.
Kinwong's Hong Kong IPO raised over HK$5 billion in total. It plans to use approximately 60% of the net proceeds to expand and upgrade production capacity for high-value-added products to meet AI-driven demand. Among this, the Zhuhai Jinwan base is a key support for Kinwong to focus on AI+ to create a new growth curve and increase the proportion of high-end products. The company announced in August last year that it would spend RMB 5 billion to expand production there, and 36% of the net proceeds will be used to increase its HLC PCB and high-order HDI PCB production capacity. The remaining 24% of net proceeds will be used for multilayer FPC capacity for AI edge and smart device applications at the Heyuan Longchuan base.
In addition to capacity expansion, Kinwong plans to invest 15% of the net proceeds in next-generation electronic information technology R&D, corresponding to HLC PCB and high-order HDI PCB, AI accelerator cards, Z-direction interconnect backplanes and ultra-high-speed switch PCBs, application and mass production processes for next-generation ultra-low-loss materials, and automotive-grade PCBs for millimeter-wave radar and domain controllers.
In fact, since Kinwong's A-share listing in 2017, it has raised funds through IPO and convertible bonds, with cumulative fundraising exceeding RMB 5 billion, used for capacity expansion in Jiangxi, Longchuan and Zhuhai projects, repayment of bank loans and supplementary working capital. With capacity expansion continuing unabated, since its A-share listing, Kinwong's asset-liability ratio has shown a steady upward trend, from 31.42% at the end of 2017 to a high of 47.94% at the end of 2023, and further to 51.16% by the end of the first half of this year. Against this backdrop, Kinwong also plans to use 15% of its Hong Kong fundraising to repay bank borrowings, to hedge against interest-bearing debt pushed up by capacity expansion over the past two years, with the remaining approximately 10% supplementing working capital and daily procurement.
In contrast to Kinwong's continuous fundraising and capacity expansion, after the company's stock price surged driven by the PCB sector rally, the controlling shareholders made precisely timed reductions. In May 2025, Kinwong announced a reduction plan by the controlling shareholders. After the reduction window opened, from June 16 to July 25, Shenzhen Jinghong Yongtai Investment Holding Co., Ltd., Zhichuang Investment Co., Ltd., Liu Shaobai and Huang Xiaofen collectively reduced 27.81 million shares. Notably, the reduction plan set a window period of three months, spanning from June 16, 2025 to September 15, 2025, but the controlling shareholders and concerted parties terminated the reduction plan early after just over one month, with the actual reduction quantity very close to the planned upper limit. During the actual reduction period, Kinwong's stock price rose more than 80%, and the controlling shareholders and concerted parties collectively cashed out nearly RMB 1 billion. Time Finance noted that the 2025 Hurun Rich List shows that the Huang Xiaofen family ranked 332nd with wealth of RMB 19 billion, up 244 places from the previous year.
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