Tag Archives: Bank of China

Get the latest report of Bank of China : latest Business & Financial news from Doug Young, an Expert on Chinese Market, (former Chief editor at Reuters)

BANKING: Bank Of China Finds Few Buyers For HK Nanyang Unit

Bottom line: Bank of China’s Hong Kong arm is likely to find limited interest in a sale of its Nanyang Commercial Bank unit, as a slowing Chinese economy cools offshore interest in buying Hong Kong banks.

Bank of China looks to sell Nanyang Bank

A new report about a potential major bank sale in Hong Kong made me realize that a widely expected rush to buy locally based lenders in the former British colony never materialized. This latest report that the Hong Kong unit of Bank of China (HKEx: 3988; Shanghai: 601398) is shopping its locally-based Nanyang Commercial Bank might rekindle speculation that a flurry of new sales is coming. But the potential buyers mentioned in the report make such a gold rush look unlikely, indicating local Hong Kong banks may be losing their appeal as acquisition targets for Chinese and other global lenders. Read Full Post…

BANKING – Qatar’s AgBank Selldown: Winter For Bank Shares?

Bottom line: Shares of China’s big 4 banks could see some upside in the next year, as they work with Beijing to keep their bad loans and slowing profit growth within government-set limits.

Qatar sells down AgBank stake

A major sell-down by one of Agricultural Bank of China’s (HKEx: 1288; Shanghai: 601288) largest foreign shareholders looks a bit ominous for the lender, coming just after all of the nation’s big 4 banks reported rapidly declining profit growth and swelling bad loans. That raises the bigger question of whether we could see a broader exodus from Chinese banking shares by investors in the months ahead, and whether the stocks are looking at a longer term downturn while they work out the billions of dollars in non-performing loans on their books. Read Full Post…

News Digest: October 31, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 31. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Tussle Over “Singles Day” Trademark (Chinese article)
  • Virtual Network Operators Begin Offering 4G Mobile Service (Chinese article)
  • Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Closes Motorola Mobility Purchase From Google (HKEx announcement)
  • Hilton (NYSE: HLT) In Deal For Major Expansion of Hampton Hotels In China (Businesswire)
  • Bank Of China (HKEx: 3988) Announces Q3 Results (HKEx announcement)
  • Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

Big 4 Banks Soak Up Billions With Shares, Notes

China banks to raise up to $63 bln

I’ve largely ignored a steady stream of announcements by China’s big 4 state-run banks these past few weeks, but the latest plans released on the same day from 2 of those seemed like a good opportunity to finally focus on this exercise that could soak as much as 400 billion yuan ($63 billion) from the market. My main reason for ignoring the announcements was mostly because they were too numerous to write about individually, and also because much of the fund raising was expected. But the sheer size of this exercise, plus the broader implications for investors, seems like a good reason for writing now. Read Full Post…

News Digest: August 19, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Alibaba, China Grand Auto To Set Up Used Car E-commerce Platform – Source (Chinese article)
  • Anti-Trust Probe Ends For 12 Automakers, Fines To Total More Than 1 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
  • Jumei (NYSE: JMEI) Reports Unaudited Q2 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
  • Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Partners With UN To Tackle E-waste In China (English article)
  • Bank Of China (HKEx: 3988) Applies To Issue 60 Bln Yuan In Preferred Shares (HKEx announcement)
  • Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

Alibaba Makes Peace With Banks In Lending Tie-Up

Alibaba in new alliance with banks

A year after it shook up China’s stodgy banking sector with the launch of its Yu’ebao savings product, e-commerce leader Alibaba looks set to give the market another shot of needed innovation in a new tie-up with 7 major banks. This time the aim is to promote lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on manufacturers and especially exporters. Such companies often have difficulty getting loans from traditional banks for reasons I’ll explain shortly. Thus this new partnership aims to use Alibaba’s mountains of financial data on these smaller companies to help the banks better understand underserved SMEs that are a critical player in China’s economy. Read Full Post…

News Digest: July 10, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Strong Luye Pharma (HKEx: 2186) Debut Boosts Prospects For ‘China Orphan’ Firms (English article)
  • Bank Of China (HKEx: 3988) Denies State TV Allegations Of Money Laundering (English article)
  • Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Announces Supply Of 200MW PV Modules To Zonergy (PRNewswire)
  • Regulator Says To Stop Issuing New Integrated Internet TV Licenses (Chinese article)
  • Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) Promotes Ya Li To President (PRNewswire)

New Default, Merchants Bank Move Spotlight China Risk

Merchants Bank goes to Luxembourg

A couple of headlines are underscoring the high risk that China’s financial sector could soon pose for both domestic and international investors, as the nation’s financiers look for the most creative but not necessarily the safest ways to raise money. In the first instance, China Merchants Bank (HKEx: 3968; Shanghai: 600036) has officially joined the nation’s big national banks in a move to Europe, choosing the free-wheeling Luxembourg market as its first destination. Meantime, media are reporting that yet another domestic Chinese financial product is about to default, joining a growing list of such distressed high-yield offerings. Read Full Post…

Preferred Shares: Beijing’s Back-Door Stimulus?

China revving up back-door stimulus?

Big publicly-traded state-run enterprises have suddenly begun flooding the market with billions of dollars in new preferred shares, ever since Beijing’s recent roll-out of reforms allow such fund raising. The trend initially looked like a way to recapitalize the nation’s major banks, many of which are sitting on mountains of problematic infrastructure loans made during China’s massive economic stimulus plan during the global financial crisis. But the trend has just taken an interesting twist with word that a major construction company is planning its own massive preferred share issue to raise up to $4.8 billion. Read Full Post…

Big Names Line Up To Invest In Citic

Citic attracts big global investors

Investors may be giving a cold shoulder to many new Chinese companies lining up to list overseas, but one name that’s not having any such troubles is Citic Group, one of China’s oldest and most entrepreneurial financial services conglomerates. Ironically, Citic isn’t even making a formal IPO as it seeks to list in Hong Kong, but instead is making a massive back-door offering using its Citic Pacific (HKEx: 267) unit as the vehicle. The latest reports say a group of top-tier global and domestic investors are lining up to buy into the new back-door listing, reflecting Citic’s attraction as an alternative for buyers looking to gain exposure to China’s financial services sector. Read Full Post…

News Digest: May 14, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Hong Kong SFC Investigates Alibaba-ChinaVision (HKEx: 1060) Deal – Source (English article)
  • CCTV: WeChat Public Accounts Becoming Hotbed For Rumors, Fake Ads (Chinese article)
  • Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) To Buy Online Advertising Technology Firm MediaV (Chinese article)
  • Bank Of China (HKEx: 3988) Plans To Raise Up To $16 Bln In Capital (English article)
  • JD.com Begins Road Show, Points Out 3 Advantages (Chinese article)
  • Latest calendar for Q1 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)