A total of 3.675 million Guangdong Development Bank (GDB) shares will come under the hammer in Shantou on Thursday, at a time when two international consortiums have just submitted rival bids for a stake in the bank.

The reference price given on the Shantou Chaoyang Auction Co website is 4.63 million yuan (US$571,033), or 1.26 yuan (15.5 US cents) per share.

Securities Times newspaper cited the auction house as saying the sale was commissioned by the finance bureau of the Shantou municipal government. The bureau, however, denied it yesterday. The notice for the auction is dated last Thursday.

Citing a report from the auction house, the newspaper reported GDB had 3.586 billion shares at the end of 2004, with total assets of 344.5 billion yuan (US$42.48 billion).

Net assets at the time were 5.26 billion yuan (US$648.43 million) and net assets per share were 1.467 yuan (18 US cents).

The reference price of 1.26 yuan (15.5 US cents) per share is a result of discounting the banks' performance in terms of earnings per share, return on equity, non-performing loan ratio, as well as the ongoing restructuring and uncertainties in its growth and outlook.

The fact that shares being offered account for mere 0.1025 percent of GDB's total shares also discounts the price, according to the report.

Meanwhile, GDB's pre-tax profit soared to 1.68 billion yuan (US$207.15 million) year-on-year in the first half of 2006, it said in a statement.

The bank's total assets increased to 387 billion yuan (US$47.71 billion) at the end of last month from 355.8 billion yuan (US$43.87 billion) at the end of last year.

Citigroup Inc and Societe Generale were said to submit revised, rival bids for GDB last week, with each seeking a stake of up to 20 percent. This marked a fresh round in a prolonged process for control of the mid-sized bank.

Citigroup and Societe Generale have reorganized the shareholding structures of their bidding consortiums, enlisting powerful Chinese firms in their bids to win a stake in GDB.

Single overseas investors are barred from owning more than 20 percent of a Chinese mainland bank.

Under Secretary for International Trade of the United States Franklin L. Lavin said he would argue in favour of US bids for Chinese firms, including the offer by the Citigroup-led consortium for a stake in GDB. He made the remarks during a visit to Shanghai on Wednesday.

Based in affluent Guangdong Province, GDB was established in 1988. It now has 26 branches nationwide, with 500 business outlets.

Outstanding deposits in the bank amounted to 306.2 billion yuan (US$37.76 billion) and outstanding loans to 209 billion yuan (US$25.77 billion) at the end of last year.

(China Daily July 28, 2006)