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…
Bottom line: BBVA’s cut-back in its alliance with Citic represents the latest divorce between western banks and Chinese partners, with little new foreign investment likely in the sector for the next 2-3 years.
BBVA sells stake in Citic unit
A trend that’s been quiet for more than a year has popped back into the headlines, with word that Spain’s second largest bank has dumped its stake in a holding company tied to Chinese financial services conglomerate Citic Group. This particular deal is being driven by a number of factors, including a need for cash by Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA). But the bottom line is that BBVA and other major foreign banks have ended most of their similar alliances with Chinese partners over the last 3 years after such tie-ups failed to produce any strategic benefits. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China’s CGN Power Prices Hong Kong IPO At Top Of Range, Raises $3.2 Bln (English article)
JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Announces Pricing Of Secondary Offering Of Its ADSs (PRNewswire)
Meat Supplier OSI Says Six China Workers Arrested (English article)
ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Markets Record Offshore Yuan Bond Sale Amid Currency Push (English article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Selling 617 4G Devices 1 Year After Launch Of TD-LTE (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Minsheng Bank’s new stock incentive plan and ICBC’s Mexico expansion reflect moves to make China’s banking sector more market-oriented, providing potential upside for the lenders’ undervalued stocks.
Minsheng rolls out employee stock plan
Two big stories on the banking front are reflecting the big potential in depressed Chinese bank stocks, even as the sector faces a major bad debt crisis brought on by several years of state-ordered binge lending during the global financial crisis. The first of those will see Minsheng Bank (HKEx: 1988; Shanghai: 600016), China’s first private lender, launch a program that rewards top performing employees with stock at discounted prices. The second has leading state-run lender ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398) getting final regulatory approval to open a subsidiary in Mexico, one of the world’s largest developing economies. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Xiaomi to Take Stake in iQiyi, Youku Todou (NYSE: YOKU) – Source (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 8-10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Chinese Social Networking Service Momo Files For $300 Mln IPO (English article)
GCL-Poly (HKEx: 3800) Approves Plan To Buy 30 Pct Of Struggling Chaori Solar (English article)
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…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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YYeTs , Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET) On Hollywood Piracy Blacklist (Chinese article)
ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398) is in a couple of separate headlines today, spotlighting 2 very different phenomena taking place at China’s largest and most aggressive bank. The first has Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek increasing its stake in ICBC by a small amount, in a largely symbolic move that reflects the recent lack of interest in Chinese bank stocks by global investors. The second has ICBC in talks to underwrite a yuan-denominated bond sale by Russian energy giant Gazprom, reflecting the bank’s rising stature on the global stage as China seeks to internationalize its local currency. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Buys Control Of Brazil’s Peixe Urbano In Expansion Push (English article)
It seems that oil refining giant Sinopec (HKEx: 386) just can’t say “no” when it comes to choosing partners for its new retail joint venture, which is part of Beijing’s pilot program to inject more private money into big state-owned enterprises. That’s my quick assessment, following the company’s announcement that it has chosen a whopping 25 mostly domestic partners for the new venture, which will own and operate the company’s vast network of gas stations and convenience stores throughout China.
I’ve been covering the Chinese corporate scene for quite a while now, and can truthfully say that 3 or 4 partners in a single joint venture is already considered a lot. In short, I’ve never seen so many partners named for a single joint venture, and suspect Sinopec is taking this strange move to avoid having to give any of these numerous partners any actual voice in the running of its retail unit, Sinopec Sales. Read Full Post…
