Domestic broker CITIC Securities aims to make an initial public
offering (IPO) in Hong Kong this year, becoming the first domestic
securities company to list overseas, according to Tuesday's
China Securities Journal.
The company could go public ahead of China International Capital
Corporation Limited (CICC), which has put its overseas IPO plans on
hold, sources from overseas investment banks told the newspaper on
Monday.
Currently, only five Chinese banks and three Chinese insurers
are listed on the Hong Kong stock market.
Insiders from CITIC Securities did not deny that the company
plans to launch an IPO.
China Merchants Bank took nine months to complete the process
from preparation to getting listed in Hong Kong, so CITIC
Securities is likely to go public in the second half of the year,
experts predict.
Given the situation in the Hong Kong securities market and the
different price evaluations of H and A shares, the offer price for
CITIC Securities could be lower than its A-share price, said an
analyst from Hong Kong-based Capital Securities.
China's securities companies are quite small compared with giant
international brokerages, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley,
and most are not listed on the stock market.
CITIC Securities, which is one of the few to have listed on the
mainland stock market, has seen its share price jump from four yuan
to more than 20 yuan over the last 12 months.
From January to November 2006, the company captured 7.21 percent
of the Chinese brokerage market, making it the country's leading
broker. It also underwrote 20.7 percent of new share issues.
(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007)