China Life is set to issue A-shares on the Shanghai Stock
Exchange on Jan. 9, according to Monday's China Securities
Journal.
The company will release its prospectus on Tuesday providing
details of the public offering and complete all preparations before
the end of this year, according to the newspaper.
China Life Insurance, already listed on the New York and Hong
Kong stock exchanges, has said that it plans to issue around 1.5
billion A-shares on the Shanghai bourse.
China Life's H-share at the Hong Kong bourse rose 5.42 percent
to 20.60 HK dollars last Friday. The stock has almost tripled in
value this year as rising incomes in the world's fastest growing
economy spur demand for insurance policies.
By the end of June this year, total assets of China Life were
valued at 616.9 billion yuan (US$80 billion), double that of 2003
when the company was first listed in New York and Hong Kong.
In the first six months of this year, China Life registered a
net profit of 8.97 billion yuan (US$1.15 billion), almost matching
profits earned in all of 2005.
Industry insiders are optimistic about China Life's latest
public offering, as Chin's life insurance market is forecast to
grow 15 percent a year over the next five years.
China Life is the largest domestic life insurer, cornering half
of the market share.
Flush with cash, China Life has been diversifying its investment
portfolios with a number of major purchases. It recently spent 35
billion yuan (US$4.49 billion) to buy 32 percent of the
Guangdong-based China Southern Power Grid. Earlier it purchased a
20 percent stake in the Guangzhou Development Bank.
(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2006)