Biz Scene: MARKET

China Daily | Updated: 2007-08-23 07:05

Revenue climbs

Tom Group, a multi-platform media firm on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said its offline business revenue grew by 13 percent in the first half of this year, despite a slide in its Internet business.

The company, controlled by the richest Chinese Li Ka-shing, reported revenue of HK$1.347 billion and profit of HK$129 million.

Tom Group said a joint venture between its subsidiary Tom Online and eBay, which will be formally unveiled next week, will help its Internet business offset a falling wireless business.

It also plans to privatize its Internet arm Tom Online, listed on the NASDAQ and the Growth Enterprise Market in Hong Kong. It will delist from the NASDAQ next Friday, and from Hong Kong on September 3. The privatization will bring estimated savings of HK$40 million a year.

Share offer

China Vanke Co, the country's largest listed property developer, said it would raise up to 10 billion yuan by selling new shares to fund its expansion.

Vanke plans to sell up to 317.16 million A shares at 31.53 yuan apiece, the company said in a statement yesterday. The share sale plan was approved by China's securities watchdog last month.

Vanke said in March that it planned to raise the money to fund residential property projects.

Backdoor listing

China's Northeast Securities Co said it will buy Liulu Industrial Co and rename it, becoming the second Chinese brokerage to use the so-called backdoor listing to skip a regulatory requirement to go public.

Northeast Securities, based in Changchun, said it will begin trading on August 27 with its own name on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, according to a statement yesterday. The brokerage will have 581 million tradable shares with 4.9 billion yuan in total assets, based on its accounts as of September 30, 2006.

The takeover enables Northeast Securities to get around a three-year profit record that's prevented Chinese brokers from qualifying for stock exchange listing, following a similar maneuver by Haitong Securities Co in June.

(China Daily 08/23/2007 page15)