Despite mounting losses last year, China Best Group has gained several international investors including Deutsche Bank.
The group's net loss more than doubled to $137 million last year, from $50.47 million in the last nine months of 2004 when it changed its financial year.
The company, which is involved mainly in sea and air freight as well as selling coking coal and trading securities, attributed $100 million of last year's loss to the adoption of new accounting standards which included fair value adjustments on investments, financial instruments and share-based payment expenses, as well as a one-off impairment loss on acquisition goodwill.
In March, China Best raised net proceeds of $51.9 million from a top-up placement of an 8.84 per cent equity interest to investors including Deutsche Bank.
Earlier this year, Asset Managers (China) Fund, a Japanese asset management company, became China Best's second-largest investor by converting US$10 million of the group's bonds it held into 876 million shares.
The firm's turnover jumped to $284.47 million last year from $10.19 million in the last nine months of 2004.