Vietnam deal lifts China Merchants
Shares in China Merchants Holdings (International), a mainland port operator, closed at a record yesterday after its parent company agreed to make an initial overseas investment by developing a terminal and related logistics facilities in Vietnam for US$1 billion.
The stock gained 12.13 per cent to close at HK$37.45 on hopes that the new project will be injected into the company.
A company source said the terminal part would be injected while the parent, China Merchants Group, would keep the logistics facilities.
Fu Yuning, the chairman of China Merchants Holdings and president of China Merchants Group, said the investment would be the starting point of the group's overseas projects.
'Vietnam stands to benefit from the continuing trends of globalisation and outsourcing denoted in the conduct of world trade,' Mr Fu said.
China Merchants Group said it would partner with Vietnam National Shipping Lines, the nation's biggest shipping line by fleet size, to develop the project. It did not disclose the shareholding structure and the size of its investment.
The construction of the project, comprising six berths and a logistics centre, was expected to start at the end of this year, said Linda Tsui, a spokeswoman for China Merchants Group.
Ms Tsui said the new port could cater for vessels with capacity of more than 10,000 20-foot containers while the older port in Ho Chi Minh City could not.
The greenfield port, Ben Ding Sao Mai Seaport, is 90km south of Ho Chi Minh City.
