A slew of initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong propelled the financial center to first place in terms of IPO proceeds despite looming uncertainties over economy.

According to KPMG's IPO markets 2019 review report, companies raised a total of 307.8 billion HK dollars via 160 IPOs by the end of 2019, with new Main Board listings registering a record high to the tune of 145, as compared to 130 in the previous year. That is to a large extent driven by mega-sized deals made by Alibaba's secondary listing and the listing of Budweiser Brewing Company.

Alibaba shares closed at 187.60 HK dollars (23.97 U.S. dollars) at its debut in Hong Kong on November 26, gaining 6.59 percent over the 176-HK-dollar offer price, which came as a major boost to Hong Kong after being wracked by months of violent protests and the China-U.S. trade war.

Paul Lau, partner and head of Professional Practice and Capital Markets at KPMG China, attributed Hong Kong's status as the world's leading IPO hub this year to its lucrative bourse, "despite global IPO markets seeing a slight decrease in proceeds and investors are being more cautious with their sector selection amid increased economic uncertainty."

TMT and unicorn IPOs go full steam ahead

The new listing regime in Hong Kong laid the foundation and prerequisite for IPOs by pre-revenue biotech companies and Alibaba, the first secondary listing via a weighted voting rights (WVR) structure. In addition, the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sector was the champion in terms of fundraising by sector in Hong Kong. That's due to the Alibaba offering, which alone constituted 33 percent of the capital raised in the Hong Kong IPO market in 2019.

"The successful secondary listing of Alibaba may prompt other mega-sized Chinese technology companies currently listed overseas to consider returning to Asia through a similar secondary listing in Hong Kong. We've also seen a surge of New Economy 'unicorns' in the last few years, many exiting through IPOs, paving the way for more opportunities," Irene Chu, partner and head of New Economy and Life Sciences, KPMG China, said in the report.

The consumer market occupied second place when it comes to the total funds raised by sector and the number of new listings, followed by the Healthcare/Life Sciences sector ranking third with its incremental presence in the area's IPO market, raising 38.5 billion HK dollars in total. The report also mentioned that nine pre-revenue biotech companies will have listed through the new listing regime by end-2019, totaling 15.4 billion HK dollars.

Still caught in the whirlpool

But it can't be denied that Hong Kong has been caught in the whirlpool of economic turbulence over the past months on account of constant protests, lower business confidence and more market volatility. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) confirmed its economy plunged into its first recession in a decade in the third quarter, weighed down by increasingly violent protests and external uncertainties.

In October, Hong Kong's retail sales contracted 24.3 percent to 30.1 billion HK dollars from a year earlier, a ninth consecutive month of decline and a fourth month for double-digit contraction, government data showed.

The gloomy outlook brings the official view of the economy in line with what's visible in Hong Kong's streets, with shopping malls, restaurants and stores shuttered or on shorter operating hours in many districts. Over six months of protests and unrest hammered the city's key sectors, causing an uncountable loss for businesses and severely impacting the livelihood of residents.