China's CITIC Bank, the seventh largest commercial bank on the
Chinese mainland, has been transformed into a joint-stock company
and is likely to list this year.
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce last Sunday
issued the previously wholly state-owned bank with a new business
license. The bank's new name is CITIC Bank Co., Ltd., the bank said
in a Friday press release.
The move reflects solid progress in the bank's corporate
governance and lays the foundation for stable, healthy development
in the future, says the press release.
The bank submitted its share reform plan to the State Council
last May. Its president Chen Xiaoxian has said the bank will list
in Hong Kong early this year and later on mainland stock
markets.
Last November, Spanish banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcay
Argentaria (BBVA) signed an agreement to buy a five-percent stake
in CITIC Bank for 989 million euros (US$1.128 billion ).
Three of China's four major state-owned commercial banks have
gone public since China launched share reforms in state-owned
lenders in 2003. The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) will be the
last one to list.
The ABC is speeding up its share reforms and intends to list as
soon as possible, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the central
bank.
With 416 branches, CITIC Bank had total assets of 689.5 billion
yuan (US$86.2 billion) at the end of September, 11.84 percent up on
the end of 2005.
It raked in a pre-tax profit of 5.7 billion yuan from January to
September last year, with its non-performing loan ratio down to
2.79 percent and a capital adequacy ratio of 9.18 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2007)