China Everbright dives 15.4pc on profit jitters
China Everbright shares suffered their biggest slump in more than five years, retreating more than 15 per cent yesterday amid worries that long-term profitability would be overshadowed by a delay in the share sale by its 21 per cent-owned China Everbright Bank.
Shares of China Everbright, the Hong Kong-listed investment arm of financial conglomerate China Everbright Group, fell 15.43 per cent or HK$2.90 to close yesterday at HK$15.90.
'Market rumours that the A-share listing of China Everbright Bank would be deferred cast doubt on China Everbright's future performance,' said Fulbright Securities general manager Francis Lun Sheung-nim.
Shareholders of China Everbright Bank, the country's eighth-largest lender, approved on Monday its plan for a share offering in Shanghai this year. But a report by a mainland newspaper suggested that dragged down by 'huge accumulated losses', the bank's profit last year was insufficient to meet the profitability requirement for a listing candidate.
The bank posted a net profit of 4.57 billion yuan last year, up 65.6 per cent from the year before. However, accumulated losses from non-performing loans climbed to around eight billion yuan.
