SHANGHAI Jin Jiang Tower Hotel is to issue 90 million B shares at 37.92 cents each in a US$34.13 million international placing, says the issue's mainland lead manager. The holding company of Shanghai's only state-run five-star hotel is expected to sign an underwriting agreement today for the issue, which was delayed for nearly a year due to pricing arrangements. Jin Jiang is Shanghai's last 1992-approved B-share issue to finalise its share offer, and a listing will see its first stocks quoted on the mainland B-share market. Shanghai Hai Tong Securities is the mainland lead manager, with Jardine Fleming Securities acting as international manager. The issue, which represents 32.5 per cent of the company's enlarged share capital, follows Shanghai Lian Hua Fibre Corp's successful B-share launch last month. In Shanghai yesterday, an official of Hai Tong Securities said the issue price of 3.3 yuan put the share on a prospective price-earnings ratio of 9.7 times. The company has projected earnings of 71.56 million yuan (about HK$95.89 at the official rate), by international accounting standards, for this calendar year. Following the B-share issue, the official said Jin Jiang's 80 million A-shares issued in August would be trimmed to represent 28.9 per cent of the company's enlarged share capital. The holding, held by company founding shareholders and legal entities, would also be cut to 38.6 per cent, he said. For the first six months of this year, Jin Jiang posted after-tax profits of 41.65 million yuan, again under international accounting standards. Officially opened in October 1990, the 728-room hotel in central Shanghai achieved occupancy rates of more than 67 per cent in the first half of last year, compared with an average 60 per cent in the city. With Jin Jiang marking the completion of 1992-approved B-share issues, the 1993-approved ones are cashing in on the more appealing Shanghai B-share market. In August six Shanghai companies were given approval to issue B-shares, although not all will be listed this year.