State-run bad-debt cleanup agency China Huarong Asset Management is only one step from obtaining the final regulatory approval to list in the yuan-denominated A shares market, chairman Lai Xiaoming said in Shanghai Securities Journal report.
China Huarong has been listed in Hong Kong since 2015, with total assets of 1.41 trillion yuan (US$204.4 billion) as of the end of 2016, up 62.9% year on year. Its H shares hit an all-time high of HK$3.36 on March 23, and is currently trading at HK$3.29, translating to a forward price to earnings ratio of 5.15 times, according to Bloomberg.
Of the four central government-owned asset management companies (AMCs), China Cinda and China Huarong are now listed in Hong Kong, while China Orient and China Great Wall are also preparing for IPOs.
Huarong wants to be the first AMC with dual A+H listing status, since the “company is very profitable,” added chairman Lai in a routine bank briefing.
China has liberalized the bad-loan management industry last year after allowing each province to set up two local AMCs, but Huarong remains confident about the prospect of the sector despite the expected increase in competition citing the opportunity for greater central-local level cooperation.