Ningbo Port plans Hong Kong listing
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Ningbo Port Co, the operator of the country's second-biggest port by throughput, still intends to go public in Hong Kong - after its debut in Shanghai in September - to raise capital for the tens of billions it plans for future investment, a top port official said on Sunday.
"We have plans to list in Hong Kong, but so far there's no timetable for the listing," Li Linghong, president of the listed firm's parent Ningbo Port Group, told China Daily.
Li, also a deputy of the National People's Congress, said that the company plans to invest 40 billion yuan ($6.1 billion) in port terminals, equipment, logistics, and inventory systems during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period.
The port's container throughput this year will undoubtedly outpace last year's volume and will see "double-digit" growth, Li said.
Ningbo Port, adjacent to Shanghai in eastern China's city of Ningbo, Zhejiang province, raised 7.4 billion yuan in its initial public offering (IPO) in Shanghai in September, but dropped below its IPO price on its debut.
The proceeds from the capital market have not been used up, Li said, but for the port to reach its goals in the coming years, more cash is needed.
The local government-backed port operator said in June in a statement that it also plans to sell up to 2.35 billion shares in Hong Kong, without giving a timetable.
By the end of January, there were 229 shipping lines for container transport and 123 international sea routes, while its monthly container liners hit 1,338.
Ningbo Port reached 36.6 million tons of cargo throughput in January, up 12 percent from a year earlier; its container throughput grew by 30.6 percent to reach 1.26 million twenty-feet equivalent units (TEU).
China's ports have benefited from the country's increasing trade and have reported stunning performances, after the financial crisis almost froze the country's foreign trade.
Shanghai International Port (Group) Co (SIPG), the operator of the world's busiest port, reached 2.71 million TEU container throughput in January, a record monthly high with 21 percent growth from a year earlier.
SIPG reported 29.07 million TEUs in container throughput last year, surpassing Singapore as the world's biggest port.
Citic Securities said in a research note that the port industry is expected to reap "unexpectedly high" profits from the country's transition to a consumption-driven economy and the recovering container business.
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