Biggest state bank may go public
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-06-13 14:38
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China's biggest lender by
assets, is expected to list its shares in Hong Kong as early as September, a
news report said Tuesday, joining a state banks listing parade.
Its
initial public offering (IPO) is estimated at 100 billion Hong Kong dollars, one
of the highest in the world, the Xinhua-run Shanghai Securities News said,
dwarfing the 75.4 billion Hong Kong dollars IPO made by Bank of China, the
nation's No. 2 lender, in May.
ICBC president Yang Kaisheng, quoted by
the paper, said the bank has a "concrete timetable" for its listing
preparations.
China hopes its "big four" state banks, including ICBC,
BOC, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China, strengthen
corporate governance and streamline operation through market listing, while
foreign investors are also eager to buy Chinese bank shares to tap into the
sizzling Chinese economy.
The Bank of China shares were snapped up on
its June 1 debut and soared more than 20 percent by Monday, defying jitters
about the recent turmoil in Asian stock markets.
The Xinhua newspaper said
ICBC plans to submit its listing application next week to the Hong Kong stock
exchange for scrutiny, citing an unnamed senior manager of the bank. It added
China's banking regulator gave the nod for the bank's IPO plan in mid-March.
ICBC is also projected to issue the renminbi-denominated A-shares in
China's inland market soon after its Hong Kong listing. A previewing view among
Chinese brokerages is that the bank's A-share offering will be materialized
later this year, if market conditions are suitable.
China's stock market
surged in recent months -- but followed by sharp declines on worries that more
fund-raising activity by large state-owned firms would divert cash from existing
stocks.
ICBC chairman Jiang Jianqing has said he expects the bank, by
stock market value, to become one of the world's top 10 banks, with 2006
business profits exceeding 100 billion yuan (12.5 billion U.S. dollars).
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