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BEIJING—China Cosco Holdings Ltd., Asia’s largest
container line, fell the most in a month in Hong Kong
trading Tuesday after Li Ka-shing’s flagship companies
offered to sell as much as HK$2.2 billion ($282 million)
of its stock.
The
shipping line dropped 8.4 percent to close at HK$24.40.
China
Shipping Container Lines Co. also plunged in Hong Kong,
while surging on its Shanghai debut, after a Li company
sought to cut its stake in the container line,
Asia’s second-biggest.
Billionaire Li’s businesses offered the stock amid fears
that an economic slowdown would damp demand for
shipments of Asian-made goods to the US. The Federal
Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate Monday and said
growth in the world’s largest economy may be slowing.
“Li is
probably right to profit at the moment,” said Gideon Lo,
an analyst at DBS Vickers in Hong Kong. “This year, the
container cycle has gotten more risky because of
inflated labor and fuel costs, particularly for the
Chinese lines. Moreover, the US slowdown is still a
major headache in the industry.”
China
Cosco’s Hong Kong shares have surged more than fivefold
this year. China Shipping’s have gained more than
fourfold.
Cheung
Kong (Holdings) Ltd. and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. Were
offering 89 million China Cosco shares at HK$24.80 to
HK$25.20 apiece, according to a term sheet sent by
arranger JPMorgan Chase & Co. last night.
Cheung
Kong, Hong Kong’s second-biggest developer by market
value, offered to sell 250 million China Shipping shares
at HK$6.06 to HK$6.19, a separate e-mail from UBS AG
said.
China
Shipping fell 12 percent to HK$5.61 in Hong Kong. Its
Shanghai stock jumped 75 percent to close at 11.57 yuan
following the company’s 15.5 billion yuan ($2.1 billion)
stock sale. China Cosco lost 4.3 percent to 42.61 yuan
in Shanghai.
The Fed
lowered its benchmark interest rate to 4.25 percent
Monday, saying “incoming information suggests that
economic growth is slowing, reflecting the
intensification of the housing correction and some
softening in business and consumer spending.”
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Chinese shipbuilder to bankroll new
production center, hiking capacity
BEIJING—China
Shipbuilding Industry Corp. will invest 10 billion yuan
($1.4 billion) in a new production base for vessels and
equipment in northern China, Shanghai Securities News
said, citing an unidentified company official. The 3.5
square-kilometer (1.4 square-mile) facility in
Tianjin
will add 3 million deadweight tons of shipbuilding
capacity and contribute 20 billion yuan to annual sales
by 2015, the newspaper said. The Beijing-based company
is China’s second-largest shipbuilder. China, the
second-biggest shipbuilding nation by order backlog
after South Korea, aims to become the world’s biggest by
2015. (Bloomberg)
****
Container carrier cancels share swap
TAIPEI—Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., a
container-shipping line controlled by Taiwan’s
government, canceled a plan to exchange shares with
Taiwan Navigation Co. because of a court injunction.
Yang
Ming’s board decided to scrap the plan because a Taiwan
court ordered the two companies to resolve an objection
from a major Taiwan Navigation shareholder before
proceeding, Winsor Huang, a Yang Ming junior vice
president, said by telephone Tuesday.
Yang
Ming, based in
Taiwan’s
second-biggest port Keelung, said on February 9 it
planned to exchange NT$1.5 billion ($45 million) of
shares with Taiwan Navigation, aiming to cut costs and
expand its bulk business. The companies could jointly
expand their fleets and boost efficiency, Han Jyh-yang,
executive vice president of Taipei-based Taiwan
Navigation, said in February.
“The
legal issue will take a long time to resolve,” Huang
said from Keelung Tuesday.
Yang
Ming, Taiwan’s third-biggest shipping company by market
value, runs 89 ships, Huang said. Taiwan Navigation
operates 38 vessels, according to the company’s web
site. (Bloomberg) |
