Agricultural ...-0.35%
Agricultural ...-0.11%
China's AgBank aims to raise $15.8B
Agricultural Bank Of China Ltd., one of the biggest lenders in the world by assets and market capitalization, said on Monday that it intends to fund business development and replenish the capital ratio through a private placement of as much as 27.5 billion A-class shares. The secondary issuance, planned for execution by June 30, should bring up to 100 billion yuan, or $15.8 billion, excluding expenses and without change to preliminary annual profit of 192.7 billion yuan. The world's second-largest economy is preparing for the introduction of stricter standards for banking.
Following regulatory clearance, AgBank said, the capital increase will be covered by entities affiliated with the government. The biggest part is planned to be sold to Central Huijin Investment Ltd. and the Ministry of Finance, which would retain stakes of 40.03% and 39.21%, respectively. New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NCI), another existing shareholder in the process, will lift its interest to 0.08% from 0.02%. The remaining, new investors are China National Tobacco Corp., Shanghai Haiyan Investment Management Co. Ltd., Zhongwei Capital, and Hubei Province Co.
AgBank earlier reported a rise in operating income of 6.1% for last year, to 537 billion yuan. Attributable net profit surged 4.9% to 193 billion yuan, while the nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio declined by 0.56 basis points to 1.81%.