(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-20 08:51

China Minsheng Banking Corp.’s board will decide on a Hong Kong listing plan in the next couple of months, but the Shanghai-listed bank hasn’t set a firm fundraising goal for the offering, the bank’s president said Thursday.

“A Hong Kong listing certainly, as people speculate. It will be the next step,” China Minsheng Bank president Eddie Wang said. “But at the moment, we don’t have a timetable yet. All the preparations have been done, (we are) waiting for the green light from the board,” he said.

Wang said the bank has had discussions with foreign banks about the possibility of becoming strategic investors ahead of the Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), but China Minsheng Bank’s board hasn’t decided about whether it wants a strategic investor.

“At the moment, we don’t have a definitive statement, yes we want one, or we don’t want one,” he said. “I think it is still very open.”

Wang, who spent most of his career with HSBC Holdings, joined Minsheng bank as president last year.

Earlier this year, the bank completed a private placement of yuan-denominated A shares that raised 18.16 billion yuan (US$2.39 billion).

Wang said the Shanghai-listed bank’s nonperforming loan ratio has fallen below 1.1 percent and its capital adequacy ratio has risen above 10 percent.

Minsheng said last month that its first-half profit surged more than 60 percent on increased loans and robust demand for services. In the first half of 2006, Minsheng posted a profit of 1.73 billion yuan.