China Life plans mainland listing
By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-30 09:13
China Life Insurance Co, the country's largest life insurer, plans to raise
US$2.6 billion in a share float on the Shanghai bourse to become China's first
insurer to be publicly traded at home.
Directors approved the sale of 1.5
billion new shares representing 5.3 per cent of its enlarged capital, the
Beijing-based company said in a statement to the Hong Kong bourse yesterday.
"Our main target buyers are strategic investors, institutional and
retail investors," the statement said, noting that the proposal is subject to
shareholder approval.
The sale marks the first time China Life will sell
shares to domestic investors and is likely to be the mainland's biggest domestic
equity issue. Bank of China, the nation's largest foreign exchange lender,
raised 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in a Shanghai offering last
month.
"With more capital pouring in, the domestic share sale will help
China Life quicken its business expansion and strengthen its solvency
abilities," said Dong Chen, an analyst with CITIC China Securities. "And the
return of more blue chips will also help revitalize the domestic
market."
China Life may hire CITIC Securities Co and China Galaxy
Securities Co to manage the sale, China's Economic Observer quoted unnamed
sources as saying.
The insurer's Hong Kong shares closed at HK$13.88
(US$1.8) yesterday, up 2.97 per cent on the previous day.
According to
China Life's statement, its first-half net profit increased to 8.96 billion yuan
(US$1.1 billion), up 72.15 per cent from 5.208 billion yuan (US$650 million) a
year earlier, fuelled by strong premium growth and higher returns on
investments.
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, which is also traded in Hong
Kong, also has plans to float domestic shares by the end of the year and has
appointed China International Capital Corporation, CITIC Securities and China
Galaxy Securities as sponsors to raise 10 billion yuan (US$1.25 billion),
insiders said.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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