Ant Group files for HK-Shanghai IPO; first-half profit rises 1,000%

Ant's Alipay service processed $17 trillion in transactions

Billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong and Shanghai to bankroll its expansion in financial services and bolster its lead as China’s large­st online payments platform.

The company will issue no less than 10 per cent in new shares of its total capital, according to its filing with the Shanghai excha­nge. 

The financial technology powerhouse reported profit of 21.9 billion Chinese yuan ($3.2 billion) on total revenues of 72.5 billion yuan in the first half of the year, according to the exchange filing.  That represented a more than 1,000 per cent jump in profits from