China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) gave the nod on Monday to the A share initial public offering (IPO) plan of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd (CPIC).

The company will issue one billion A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, making it the third insurer listed on mainland after its larger rivals China Life and Ping An Insurance.

The A shares will account for 12.99 percent of CPIC's expanded share capital and the money raised through the domestic listing will be used to replenish capital to help expand business, its prospectus said.

Analysts estimated the shares would be sold at 20 yuan per piece and start trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange before the end of the year.

The diluted earnings per A share are estimated at 0.84 yuan, as the company anticipates a net profit of 6.45 billion yuan this year.

China International Capital Corporation and UBS Securities are underwriting the issue.

The company also said it plans to issue no more than 900 million H shares after the mainland listing, but the exact schedule is up to the regulator and international capital market conditions.

The H share price will be the same or higher than its mainland counterpart.

With total assets of 238.92 billion yuan by the end of June, the company was China's second largest property insurance broker and the third largest life insurance firm.

It earned 13.11 billion yuan of property insurance premiums and 24.53 billion yuan of life insurance premiums in the first of 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2007)