H-share listing candidates Yanzhou Coal Mining Co and Wuhan Iron and Steel (Wugang) are reviving their Hong Kong listing plans. It is understood Yanzhou Coal, the mainland's largest coal exporter, has tentatively planned to start an international roadshow in the middle of next month, before a Hong Kong public offering. The timetable will hinge on market conditions. The company, in Shandong province, shelved its dual listing in Hong Kong and the United States to raise up to $2.86 billion in October as market sentiment turned sour amid the Asian financial storm. If Yanzhou Coal can pull off the offering by the end of next month, it will have to provide a result for only the first nine months of last year and its 1997 full-year profit forecast. The company owns and operates four mines with a combined raw coal production of 16.8 million tonnes in 1996. It plans to acquire from its parent a fifth mine, Jining second phase, which has a designed capacity of four million tonnes. It began production last July. The company is sponsored by Bear Stearns and ABN-AMRO Rothschild. Wugang, in Hubei province, secured listing approval at the stock exchange's listing hearing last Thursday. The iron plant has held up a flotation due to the bad performance of the mainland iron and steel sector in the past four years. It was selected as one of the second batch of overseas listing candidates in 1994. Wugang, sponsored by Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific), initially was scheduled to launch the offering in the fourth quarter of last year, but was forced to delay because of the financial crisis.
