PINESTONE (00804.HK): Net Proceeds of HKD 24.2 Million from Placing for Virtual Asset Licence Application and AI Application Expansion

NewTimeSpace News: On 21 August 2026, Pinestone Capital Limited (00804.HK) published a supplementary announcement providing further information on the strategic cooperation and the placing of new shares under the general mandate. The group principally provides securities brokerage services, securities margin lending services, margin financing and other lending services, as well as placing and underwriting services. To address cost pressure from rising operating expenses (approximately HKD 57.11 million in 2024 and HKD 41.60 million in 2025), the directors estimate that approximately HKD 60.0 million of total funds is required to achieve long-term operational sustainability and complete the strategic transformation into an "AI + Virtual Assets (VA) ecosystem".

The allocation of net proceeds of approximately HKD 24.2 million from the placing is: HKD 10.2 million for the virtual asset licence application (HKD 5.0 million for statutory liquid capital reserve, HKD 3.4 million for appointing compliance and legal advisers, and HKD 1.8 million for cold/hot wallet custody and AML/KYC technology systems); HKD 14.0 million for the implementation of AI application expansion (HKD 5.5 million for computing infrastructure and cloud hardware leasing, HKD 4.5 million for development of financial AI algorithms and risk models, HKD 2.5 million for recruiting AI R&D teams, and HKD 1.5 million for AI commercialisation marketing); and approximately HKD 6.0 million for general working capital (HKD 2.5 million for staff salaries, HKD 1.5 million for office rent, HKD 1.2 million for listing compliance costs, and HKD 0.8 million for IT maintenance).

The company also clarified that the placing price of HKD 5.22 per placing share represents a premium of approximately 38.32% over the average closing price of HKD 3.774 per share for the last five trading days immediately preceding the date of the placing agreement. In addition, the company clarified the distinction between the virtual asset licence upgrade (funded by HKD 5.1 million of unutilised rights issue proceeds, for ongoing operational compliance and system maintenance under existing SFC licences) and the virtual asset licence application (funded by HKD 10.2 million of placing proceeds, to meet the higher statutory capital requirements under the virtual asset service provider regime). Regarding the strategic cooperation with Shanghai Fuquan, no final or legally binding commercial agreement has been signed, and the AI computing power business and operations have not yet commenced.

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