China Shipping Container Lines Co., Asia's second-largest cargo-box carrier, may raise as much as $2.4 billion selling shares in Shanghai to buy ships as the country's booming exports fuel sea-freight traffic.
The shipping line plans to sell as many as 2.34 billion shares, it said in a Hong Kong stock exchange statement late yesterday, without giving a price range. The potential value of the sale was calculated based on today's closing price for the company's Hong Kong-listed stock.
The sale may exceed the $2 billion raised by larger rival China Cosco Holdings Co. in a Shanghai offering in June, underscoring demand for shipping shares. China Shipping's Hong Kong stock has surged almost sixfold this year as a 26.5 percent jump in Chinese exports helped drive up freight rates.
"Mainland investors will support the share sale and give a premium to the stock as China still has limited investment channels,'' said Edward Wong, an analyst at Quam Ltd. in Hong Kong. "Investor confidence will be supported by the recovery of freight rates. The shipping market is still on an uptrend.''
China Shipping gained 3.2 percent to HK$8.11 in Hong Kong trading today. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 1.1 percent.
Chinese companies have raised at least 395 billion yuan ($53 billion) in domestic share sales this year, more than the combined amount in the previous five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Five Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies -- PetroChina Co., China Shenhua Energy Co., China Construction Bank Corp., Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., and Bank of Communications Co. -- raised 255.5 billion yuan between them in the five largest domestic share sales this year.
PetroChina, the nation's biggest oil producer, drew 3.4 trillion yuan of orders for its 66.8 billion yuan sale. China Cosco's sale, China's seventh-biggest this year, drew 1.63 trillion yuan of demand, more than 100 times the stock on offer.
China's benchmark CSI 300 Index has more than doubled this year. The measure has fallen 14 percent from its Oct. 16 peak amid investor fears that China will further raise interest rates, eroding profits at companies led by banks and developers.
China Shipping's share sale will fund the purchase of new ships and related assets, as well as the repayment of loans, the company said in an Aug. 9 Hong Kong stock exchange statement. It then said that it would sell 1.5 billion shares.
China's securities regulator will meet to review the share sale plan on Nov. 23, it said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. Shanghai share sales are usually priced at a discount to the Hong Kong-listed stock.
Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., China Cosco and other Chinese shipping lines are expanding as the nation's rising trade boosts sea-freight demand. About 90 percent of world trade moves by sea.
China Shipping announced a $1.36 billion order of eight ships from Samsung Heavy Industries Co. on Aug. 8. The company in June issued 1.8 billion yuan of bonds to buy 12 vessels, as it seeks to expand its fleet to 162 ships by 2009.
The company expects net income of 3.12 billion yuan this year, more than triple last year's profit, it said today.
The shipping line plans to issue 5.5 bonus shares for every 10 held to holders of its Hong Kong-listed stock if the Shanghai share sale gets approved, it said in August.
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