Shenhua gets nod for Australia project

    CHINA Shenhua Energy Co. said Friday that a coal mine project it is developing in Australia was approved by China’s National Development and Reform Commission.

    The planned project, known as the Watermark Phase One Open-Cut Coal Mine Project, is still subject to approval by the local New South Wales government, it said in a statement Friday. Shenhua said the Australian project has recoverable reserves of 290 million tons and will be able to produce 10 million tons of coal a year for 24 years. The project’s construction could take 18 months, it said.

    Shenguan denies book doctoring claims

    CHINA’S Shenguan Holdings Group on Friday denied allegations from an equities research firm accusing it of doctoring its books, calling the report malicious and groundless.

    The report from a firm called Emerson Analytics, which triggered a sharp fall in Shenguan’s Hong Kong-listed shares before the company requested a trading halt Sept. 3, said the company, a maker of sausage casings, was understating costs and overstating revenue.

    External debt stands at US$907.2b

    CHINA’S external debt stood at US$907.2 billion as of the end of June, said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Friday.

    That was up from US$883.9 billion external debt recorded as of the end of March, official data showed. Medium and long term debt accounted for US$191.4 billion of the total, while short-term debt was at US$715.9 billion, the SAFE said. Eighty one percent of the debt was denominated in U.S. dollars, the regulator said. At the end of June, China had US$3.99 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, up from US$3.95 trillion at the end of March.

    Fosun ups bid for Espirito Santo unit

    CHINA’S Fosun International Ltd. has upped its bid for Portugal’s Espirito Santo Saude (ESS) to 4.82 euros a share, or 460.5 million euros (US$584 million) in total, stepping up the battle over the hospital business of the indebted Espirito Santo family.

    Portugal’s CMVM market regulator said late Friday it registered the all-cash offer by conglomerate Fosun’s Portuguese insurance unit Fidelidade, while also extending by a week to Oct. 10 a rival offer by Mexico’s Grupo Angeles, the first to bid for ESS. Angeles initially offered 4.3 euros a share for the company Aug. 19 and later raised its bid to 4.5 euros per share.