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Chinese bank wins approval for $2b IPO
(bloomberg)
Updated: 2005-05-25 10:26

Bank of Communications Ltd., China's fifth-biggest lender, won approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange to raise as much as $2 billion in an initial public offering next month, officials involved in the sale said.

HSBC Group CEO Stephen Green (L) and HSBC Asia-Pacific chairman-designate Vincent Cheng react during a news conference in Hong Kong May 24, 2005. Bank of Communications, China's fifth-largest lender, which is nearly 20-percent owned by global bank HSBC Holdings, will begin marketing its US$1.5 billion IPO on Wednesday after winning listing approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange, sources close to the deal said on Tuesday. [Reuters]

The Shanghai-based company will start briefing potential investors about the IPO today, said the officials, who declined to be identified. The bank will sell 13 percent of its shares in the offer, they said. HSBC Holdings Plc, the owner of a fifth of the bank, will buy 20 percent of the IPO, they said.

Bank of Communications would be the first lender owned by the Chinese government to sell shares overseas. The transaction probably will be used as a gauge to measure investor interest in state-owned lenders. China Construction Bank plans to sell $5 billion of stock in an IPO later this year.

``Investors want banking exposure in China, but they will be selective because there are more Chinese banks coming to market,'' said Sam Ho, who helps manage about $100 million at KDB Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Bank of Communications received a letter from the stock exchange giving approval for the IPO late last night, the officials said. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.'s spokesman Henry Law declined to comment on the transaction.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc were hired by Bank of Communications to arrange the IPO. Goldman spokesman Edward Naylor in Hong Kong and HSBC spokesman John Ryan declined to comment.

Bank of Communications' Chairman Jiang Chaoliang didn't return calls. Sukyi Yau, a spokeswoman at Citigate Dewe Rogerson which works for Bank of Communications, declined to comment.

Profit Drop

London-based HSBC, Europe's biggest bank by market value, plans to buy a fifth of the IPO -- or 2.6 percent of the company's shares -- to maintain its stake, the officials said. Bank of Communications is selling 5.9 billion shares, they said.

Bank of Communications reduced its 2004 profit by 63 percent after the government canceled a 9.67 billion yuan ($1.17 billion) tax credit. The decision cut the company's net income to 1.6 billion yuan from 4.38 billion yuan, according to filings from the bank.

China's economy expanded 9.4 percent in the first quarter, after growing 9.5 percent in 2004. The government is trying to reorganize its banks so they can better compete with international competitors, which will start offering domestic currency services at the end of next year to tap $1.56 trillion in savings held by the nation's 1.3 billion people.

Founded in 1908, Bank of Communications is one of 15 commercial banks with a national banking license, allowing it to operate without geographic restrictions.

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