Power play by Datang bonus for investors

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-27 08:46

Datang International Power Generation Co, the biggest Hong Kong-listed Chinese electricity producer, plans to hand bonus shares to investors for the first time.

This will double the amount of stock available for trading, Bloomberg News reported.

Datang Power will issue 4.2 billion yuan-denominated A shares in Shanghai, and 1.6 billion overseas-listed H shares, the Beijing-based utility said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday night.

Datang Power first unveiled the plan on April 2, saying it would give investors 10 shares for every 10 held to expand its share capital and increase liquidity.

China Cosco Holdings Co, owner of Asia's largest container-shipping line, and Hong Kong & China Gas Co, the city's only piped-gas supplier, are other companies that have announced similar plans this year.

"There's no surprise in the bonus share issue as investors have known about it for a long time," Zhang Wenxian, an analyst with Guotai Jun'an Hong Kong Ltd, said by phone from Shenzhen yesterday.

The company's shares in Hong Kong climbed as much as 2.4 percent to HK$6.92 (88 US cents) and traded at HK$6.75 at 12:15pm yesterday. The Shanghai shares fell 2.7 percent to 36.37 yuan (US$4.81). Its Hong Kong-traded shares are up 66 percent this year, while its Shanghai stock has surged more than threefold.

"The A shares are falling partly due to a market correction as the stock rose too high previously," Zhang said. "The government's comments to delay a decision on a power price hike may also have affected the market."

The government will wait "some time" before raising power prices, Cao Changqing, head of the National Development and Reform Commission's pricing department, said on Wednesday. China controls electricity prices to limit their impact on inflation.

Trading in the bonus H shares starts on August 1, the company said in Wednesday night's statement. Trading in the bonus A shares begins on July 31, Datang Power said in a statement on its Website on July 24.

The register of H-share investors for the bonus stock was closed between July 19 and July 24, the company said.

"The bonus issue will reciprocate the shareholders' long-term support and expand the share capital base of the company," the statement said.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)