Yingkou Port, one of the country's top 10 coastal ports, is planning a total listing after three to five placements, the company's president said yesterday.

 

"We will embark on the third placement in April," Gao Baoyu, president of Yingkou Port Group, told China Daily on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress. But he refused to elaborate as the plan is still waiting for the green light from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

 

"If things go according to plan, we'll launch the fourth placement this year," Gao said.

 

The company, listed in Shenzhen in 2002, saw a throughput of 94.8 million tons last year and "will surely exceed 100 million tons this year".

 

However, to avoid competition between the listed arm and the rest of the group, making the parent company list in its entirety or regularly injecting quality assets into its subsidiaries is seen by Gao as necessary in the long run.

 

But such restructuring, although a trend in the ports sector, can hardly be achieved within a short time.

 

"It's very hard to inject all the parent company's good assets into the listed subsidiary, given the scale gap," Gao said, adding that it is a common challenge for many ports.

 

The total assets of the listed arm of Yingkou Port hovers around 2 billion yuan. Those of the group stand at 14 to 15 billion yuan.

 

"Therefore, we have to achieve the restructuring through several placements and then list the group in its entirety," Gao said, adding the whole process could take five years, or even longer.

 

According to Zheng Qingping, an analyst with Golden Sun Securities, Tianjin Port, Rizhao Port, Yantian Port and Chongqing Gangjiu Corp are all likely to benefit from similar reshuffles.

 

For the moment, only Shanghai Port Group is listed in its entirety in Shanghai.

 

Yingkou is also strengthening itself through mergers and acquisitions.

 

"We took over 80 percent of Panjin Port in late February," said Gao, "and are still in discussions with other ports along Liaoning coast on similar cooperation."

 

Though Gao declined to reveal Yingkou's next partner, he said he prefers joining forces with private ports and would like to take a major stake in such a joint venture.

 

Besides mulling over the listing plan, Yingkou Port is also seeking cooperation opportunities with overseas investors.

 

"We are not ruling out the possibility of having a stake in ventures with the world's leading logistics companies," Gao said.

 

(China Daily March 16, 2007)