(Yicai Global) Jan. 25 -- KuaishouTechnology, the firm behind TikTok’s main competitor in China, could raise as much as HKD48 billion (USD6.2 billion) in its Hong Kong initial public offering this week, but expects its net loss to widen this year.

The Tencent-backed company plans to issue about 365 million shares priced at between HKD105 and HKD115 (USD13.55 and USD14.84) each, valuing the short video-sharing platform operator at between USD55.6 billion and USD60.9 billion, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported today.

In an updated IPO prospectus released yesterday, the Beijing-based company said there is no guarantee it will become profitable in the near future because of increasing spending on sales, marketing and research and development. It did not provide any estimates.

In the 11 months through November, revenue totaled CNY52.5 billion (USD8.1 billion), with gross profit at CNY20.9 billion, which represents a gross margin of 39.9 percent. Its operating loss was CNY9.4 billion (USD1.45 billion), up from CNY7.2 billion at the end of September and CNY6.3 billion for the first half.

Kuaishou’s total e-commerce gross merchandise volume was CNY332.6 billion as of Nov. 30, down 21.5 percent from CNY423.4 billion a year earlier.

The platform’s average daily active users rose to 264 million in the first 11 months from 262 million in the first nine, but monthly active users fell to 481 million from 483 million.

Editors: Xu Wei, Peter Thomas