Domestic broker CITIC Securities aims to make an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong this year, becoming the first domestic securities company to list overseas, according to Tuesday's China Securities Journal.

 

The company could go public ahead of China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC), which has put its overseas IPO plans on hold, sources from overseas investment banks told the newspaper on Monday.

 

Currently, only five Chinese banks and three Chinese insurers are listed on the Hong Kong stock market.

 

Insiders from CITIC Securities did not deny that the company plans to launch an IPO.

 

China Merchants Bank took nine months to complete the process from preparation to getting listed in Hong Kong, so CITIC Securities is likely to go public in the second half of the year, experts predict.

 

Given the situation in the Hong Kong securities market and the different price evaluations of H and A shares, the offer price for CITIC Securities could be lower than its A-share price, said an analyst from Hong Kong-based Capital Securities.

 

China's securities companies are quite small compared with giant international brokerages, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and most are not listed on the stock market.

 

CITIC Securities, which is one of the few to have listed on the mainland stock market, has seen its share price jump from four yuan to more than 20 yuan over the last 12 months.

 

From January to November 2006, the company captured 7.21 percent of the Chinese brokerage market, making it the country's leading broker. It also underwrote 20.7 percent of new share issues.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007)