Ningbo plans Shanghai IPO
Ningbo Commercial Bank has scrapped plans to sell shares in an initial public offering in Hong Kong next year and hired Goldman Gao Hua Securities to arrange an A-share sale in Shanghai instead.
The company revealed the change in plans in a statement to a Ningbo newspaper yesterday.
Beijing-based Goldman Gao Hua Securities, a joint venture 33 per cent owned by US investment bank Goldman Sachs, was set up in late 2004 and is one of the few Sino-foreign securities firms in China.
The lender, based in the fast-growing eastern province of Zhejiang, is expected to raise about five billion yuan in a Shanghai IPO, sources said.
A Ningbo Bank executive declined to provide details of the company's plans.
Ningbo Financial Bureau, the lender's largest single shareholder, owns a 15 per cent stake.
The bank posted net profit of 300 million yuan last year, up 288 per cent from 77 million yuan in 2004 as it made more loans amid the booming mainland economy. Its assets grew 22.75 per cent to 42 billion yuan at the end of last year from 34 billion yuan a year ago, as deposits and outstanding loans grew.
Deposits climbed to 42 billion yuan at the end of June this year up from 37 billion yuan on December 31 last year and 30 billion yuan at the end of 2004. Loans grew to 27 billion yuan as of June 30, up from 19 billion yuan on December 31 and 17 billion yuan at the end of 2004.
Its capital adequacy ratio stood at about 10.8 per cent at the end of last year, well in excess of the statutory minimum of 8 per cent. Its non-performing loan ratio was 0.61 per cent at the end of last year, down from 1.15 per cent a year ago.
