HONG KONG - Hong Kong's bourse operator posted a 10% rise in annual profit, helped by sharp increases in trading turnover and new company listings, and said it was optimistic that a pickup in Chinese economic activity would help its prospects.

Recent years have seen the exchange's performance hampered by slow growth in China's economy, regulatory tightening that kept a lid on companies' fundraising outside mainland China as well as geopolitical tensions.

But stock markets in mainland China and Hong Kong have rallied in recent months after Beijing announced a slew of stimulus measures in the second half of last year to revive the economy.

Profit attributable to shareholders of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX) rose to HK$13.05 billion ($1.7 billion) in 2024, in line with an LSEG consensus estimate.

HKEX Chief Executive Bonnie Chan, who took the helm last year, said in an earnings statement geopolitical and macroeconomic developments will likely continue to impact markets this year.

"However, there are also encouraging signs of economic revitalisation, with stimulative policies in Mainland China and interest rate cuts in other major markets providing renewed vibrancy to Hong Kong's fundraising and secondary markets."

The bourse's average daily turnover of equity products, a key source of revenue, posted a 29% rise to HK$120 billion. The amount traded via the "southbound connect" - investments coming from the mainland to Hong Kong - surged 55% to HK$48.2 billion.

Its cash equities market hit a monthly record of HK$620.7 billion in turnover in October, the exchange said.

Hong Kong, the main destination for mainland Chinese firms looking to raise capital offshore, saw 71 new listings raise a combined HK$88 billion last year, a 90% increase over 2023.

That trend looks set to continue, helped by a 17% jump in the main Hong Kong index so far this year.

Bankers have said mainland firms are accelerating plans to raise fresh funds offshore, tapping into a rebound in investor sentiment fuelled by Beijing's increased support for private firms and the popularity of DeepSeek's AI models.

Offshore equity capital markets deals involving Chinese companies this year totalled $3.3 billion as of last week, more than six times the amount in the same period last year, Dealogic data shows.

Chan said the bourse had worked its listing framework throughout last year to attract companies.

Changes include a shorter timeframe for the application process, a new treasury share regime for issuers and a consultation paper on proposals to reform the IPO price discovery process.

Shares in HKEX were down 1% in the afternoon trade, in line with the broader market.

($1 = 7.7758 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Edwina Gibbs)