Erste Gerüchte um einen potentiellen "merge" (Verbindung/Verschmelzung..) der A+B shares, wenn das wahr würde dann +++++++++++++++
China's B Shares Jump on Merger Talk; Regulator Rejects `Rumor'
By Zhang Shidong
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- China's foreign-currency B shares surged the most in almost five years on speculation they will be merged with A shares. The securities regulator said talk of such a plan is ``not true.''
The Shanghai B-Share Stock Price Index jumped 13.96, or 9.8 percent, to 156.39 at the 11:30 a.m. local-time break, set to rise by the most since Jan. 31, 2002. The Shenzhen B-Share Stock Price Index surged 37.84, or 8.2 percent, to 499.52, set for the biggest gain since June 24, 2002.
``There is talk going around the market that the securities regulator will soon begin studying a plan to merge A and B shares,'' said Zhang Qi, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co. in Shanghai. ``Given the discount of B shares to A shares, that's a big boost to the B-share market.''
All the 54 companies on Shanghai's B-share market rose today. Among them, Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co., China's biggest maker of cranes used to load and unload ship container cargoes, jumped 12.9 U.S. cents, or the 10 percent daily limit, to $1.414. Its underlying A shares traded at 13.15 yuan at break, a 20 percent premium to the B shares.
Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development Co., a developer in Shanghai's financial district, surged 11.5 U.S. cents, or 10 percent, to $1.264. It's A shares were at 15.40 yuan, a 56 percent premium.
`Not True'
B shares, which are traded in U.S. dollars in Shanghai and Hong Kong dollars in Shenzhen, can only be bought and sold by local individuals and overseas investors. They were introduced in the early 1990s as a means for domestic companies to raise foreign currency, though the sale of so-called H shares in Hong Kong has since proven a more popular option for companies requiring such funds.
The larger, more liquid A-share market is open to all domestic investors and restrictions on overseas investment in the securities are being relaxed. The government has approved $9 billion of investment from abroad since it began opening the A- share market to foreign investors in 2003.
Talk that A and B shares will be merged is ``rumor and not true,'' Liu Fuhua, a press official at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said today in Beijing. ``We will put out a clarification statement on our Web site as soon as possible.''
Shanghai's A shares have a market value of 7.46 trillion yuan ($960 billion) and Shenzhen's 1.89 trillion yuan, compared with respective totals of US$6.92 billion and HK$82.2 billion ($7.37 billion) for their B shares, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The value of A shares traded in Shanghai averaged $3.04 billion a day last year, compared with US$29.8 million for the city's B shares, according to Bloomberg data.
Among the 55 B-share companies in Shenzhen, 52 rose and three were unchanged. China International Marine Containers Co., the world's largest maker of freight containers, rose 92 Hong Kong cents, or 5.5 percent, to HK$17.60. Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co., the listed unit of the country's biggest vintner, climbed HK$3.11, or 8.3 percent, to HK$40.40.
To contact the reporter on this story: Zhang Shidong in Shanghai at at szhang5@bloomberg.net |
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