CRC wins 10 contracts worth 18.3 billion yuan

China Railway Construction Corp, which is listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, said late Wednesday it has won 10 railway construction contracts in the mainland worth a total of 18.3 billion yuan ($2.68 billion).

The value of the contracts represented 8.1 percent of the company's revenue in 2008, according to mainland accounting standards, the company said. The contracts are for building rail links in Chinese cities including Tianjin, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Chengdu.

S&P's lowers Country Garden CB rating to 'BB'

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said yesterday high onshore obligations may disadvantage Country Garden's offshore bond holders in terms of recovery.

S&P lowered the rating on the convertible bond to "BB" from "BB-". At the same time, it affirmed the "BB-" corporate credit rating as credit metrics are likely to remain adequate for the rating, given an improving real estate market. The outlook is stable.

S&P also lowered its issue ratings on the $600 million 2.5% convertible bond due 2013 issued by Country Garden Holdings to "BB" from "BB-". At the same time, it affirmed its "BB-" long-term corporate credit rating on the mainland-based property developer. The outlook is stable.

HKMA sells HK$3.875b to keep HK$ in trading band

The city's de facto central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, yesterday afternoon injected HK$3.875 billion ($500 million) into the money market to stem an appreciating Hong Kong dollar and keep it within its fixed trading band.

The Hong Kong dollar hit the top of its trading band at 7.7500 yesterday as funds continued to pour into the territory, much of it headed for the property and stock markets, dealers said.

According to data on Reuters page, the latest intervention will lift the aggregate balance - the sum of balances on clearing accounts maintained by banks with the HKMA - to HK$224.944 billion by August 3.

The Hong Kong dollar is pegged at 7.80 to the U.S. dollar but can trade between 7.75 and 7.85 to the US dollar. Under the linked exchange rate mechanism, the HKMA is obliged to intervene in the market to keep the trading band intact if the currency hits 7.75 or 7.85.

Techtronic in $78 million share sale: term sheet

Locally-listed Techtronic Industries sold $78 million worth of shares at a discount, according to a term sheet.

The electrical appliance company sold 90 million shares at HK$6.73 each, representing a 4.8 percent discount to its closing price of HK$7.07 on July 29.

The share sale was upsized from 60 million shares.

The deal's bookrunners are Citigroup, HSBC Holdings and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Primus-HK battery maker bid for AIG's Taiwan unit

Primus Financial Holdings, founded by former top Citi Asia banker Robert Morse, plans to team up with a Hong Kong-listed battery maker to bid for AIG's Taiwan unit Nan Shan Life, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday.

American International Group is selling its Asian assets to shore up its capital base, and the sale of Nan Shan could fetch over $2 billion, sources have told Reuters.

Little-known China Strategic Holdings Ltd, whose major businesses include battery production and securities investments, issued a statement on Wednesday saying it had entered into a non-legally binding agreement with Primus to jointly bid for a controlling stake in an insurance firm.

China Strategic also said it planned to raise about HK$7.8 billion ($1.01 billion) to fund the possible joint acquisition.

Reuters

(HK Edition 07/31/2009 page3)