CHINA Travel International has reported a profit of $118 million for the second half of 1992, with about 60 per cent coming from bank interest gained through the huge over-subscription on its offering. The China play stock yesterday showed that new issues could be extremely lucrative by announcing an interest gain of $71 million, in addition to a net profit of $46.9 million. The net profit, attributed mainly to the transport and tourist operations, represents a 14.3 per cent increase on the forecast of not less than $41 million during the offering last July. With a 411 times over-subscription, the China Travel offer was second only to Denway Investment in attracting investor interest. Profit on the transport and travel operations for the full year was more than $159 million, four per cent above forecast. With earning per share at 3.73 cents, a final dividend of 1.7 cent a share was recommended. China Travel chairman Ma Chi-man said the fall in the value of the yuan would have a minimal effect on profit. The company would try to re-invest some of the earnings in yuan into other businesses in China to minimise exchange losses.
