New | Shares in China conglomerate advance on plans to unload Walmart stake
Several companies directly owned by China Resources Corporation (CRC), one of China’s largest state-owned conglomerates, saw their Hong Kong-listed stocks advance broadly on Friday after the conglomerate announced plans to unload its stakes and creditor’s rights in US retail giant Walmart to raise 3.34 billion yuan.
China Resources SZITIC Investment, an investment arm of CRC, is looking to sell its stakes and creditor’s rights at 21 Chinese subsidiaries of Walmart, according to the firm’s announcements on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange.
The 21 deals are valued at a combined 3.34 billion yuan, with nine of those deals priced at only 1 yuan each as those Walmart units have recorded negative net assets in the first five months of this year, a report by the National Business Daily said Thursday.
In Hong Kong, stocks in the CRC family gained across-the-board. Among them, three index components China Resources Land, China Resources Power Holdings Co., and China Resources Enterprise rose 2 per cent, 1.3 per cent, and 0.6 per cent separately. Meanwhile, China Resources Gas Group moved up 0.7 per cent, and China Resources Cement Holdings traded 0.6 per cent higher.
Oil stocks also rose, as crude futures finished more than 3 per cent higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday. In Hong Kong, PetroChina Co. gained 4.6 per cent, Sinopec improved by 2 per cent, and Cnooc moved 0.8 per cent higher.
Other top outperformers included Macau casino stocks, after official figures showed Macau’s mainland visitors jumped 7 per cent year-on-year during the week-long National Day holiday. Melco International Development rallied 4.8 per cent, Sands China added 4.3 per cent, and MGM China tacked on 1.5 per cent.
