Two listed units of state-owned mineral trading company Sinosteel Corp said yesterday their parent's listing plan won't involve it buying them out, but their shares still jumped to their maximum daily limit.

 

The parent's plan to list will not be via a backdoor listing, and it also does not intend to buy out the firms and delist them, Sinosteel Anhui Tianyuan Technology Co and Sinosteel Jilin Carbon Co, both listed in Shenzhen, said.

 

"So Sinosteel Corp's group listing won't have a substantial impact on the interests and shareholding structure" of the two companies, they said in separate statements.

 

Shares of the two listed arms had been suspended from trading since last Thursday when media reports said Sinosteel had won approval from the State Council to list core assets in a dual listing on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong.

 

The statements confirmed Sinosteel's dual listing proposal.

 

Jilin Carbon and Anhui Tianyuan resumed trading yesterday following another one-hour suspension in the morning session.

 

But the clarification was ignored by investors, and the two stocks surged to their daily limits. Anhui Tianyuan jumped 10 percent to 12.87 yuan (US$1.74) while Jilin Carbon surged five percent to 8.49 yuan.

 

Jilin Carbon is a so-called ST, or special treatment, stock that is subject to a tighter five-percent daily trading cap. ST stocks are firms which have failed to earn profits for two consecutive years or are suspected to have accounting problems.

 

(Shanghai Daily December 12, 2007)