CCB plans US$4.8b subordinated bond issue
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-05 15:57

China Construction Bank (CCB) will issue up to 40 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion) in subordinated bonds, making it the second of China's four big State-owned lenders to push ahead with capital raising plans.

The bank, which plans to use the sale to boost its capital adequacy ratio to eight percent, is initially looking to sell 10 billion yuan (US$1.21 billion) in 10-year bonds in mid-July.

The remainder would be issued before the end of the first half of 2005.

Last week, the Bank of China said it would sell 10 billion yuan in subordinated bonds next month as its seeks to boost its capital base and it could eventually offer a total of 90 billion yuan (US$10.9 billion).

CCB's first tranche will consist of five billion yuan (US$603.7 million) in fixed rate bonds and five billion yuan of floating rate debt.

CCB and the Bank of China are leading the government's latest, aggressive program to reform the banking system which was launched at the end of last year.

The two banks, the best performing of the big four, each received 22.5 billion dollars (US$2.72 billion) from the government at the end of last year in a bid to boost their capital bases.

They are currently in talks with potential strategic investors and are likely to go public either in China, overseas or both, by the end of this year or next year.

As part of their general clean up efforts, Chinese banks are trying to raise their capital adequacy ratios to meet the minimum eight percent level set under the Basel Accord, which has been accepted in principle by China's banking regulators.

CCB's capital adequacy ratio stood at 6.51 percent at the end of last year.

It has already split into a holding company and a joint-stock company, with the latter including nearly all core operations.

The other two major State-owned banks are the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission announced last December it would allow the commercial banks to issue subordinated bonds, opening up a new avenue for institutions struggling under large non-performing loan burdens, to raise capital.

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