Brokerages asked to buy back shares

    CHINA’S securities regulator has asked brokerages to step up their support for share prices by contributing 100 billion yuan (US$15.7 billion) to the nation’s market rescue fund and increasing stock buybacks, according to sources familiar with the matter.

    The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) gave the order on rescue fund contributions at a meeting with representatives of 50 brokerages Saturday, which CSRC Chairman Xiao Gang also attended, said the sources. The regulator encouraged listed brokerages to buy back shares worth as much as 10 percent of their total market value, the sources said.

    China Construction Bank profit up 0.9%

    CHINA Construction Bank Corp.’s first-half net profit rose 0.9 percent from the same period a year earlier, thanks to higher interest income and strong growth in commission fees, it said yesterday.

    China’s second-largest lender by assets said net profit for the first half of this year was 131.9 billion yuan (US$20.66 billion), up from 130.66 billion yuan a year earlier. Net interest income rose 6.3 percent to 224.62 billion yuan and net non-interest income gained 14 percent to 86.42 billion yuan.

    Evergrande Real Estate profit jumps 57%

    PROPERTY developer Evergrande Real Estate Group said yesterday its first-half core profit, which excludes revaluation gains, surged 57 percent as sales hit a record level in value terms on pent-up demand for new homes.

    Predicting more modest growth in the second half, China’s second-largest developer by sales said its core profit climbed to 10.2 billion yuan (US$1.60 billion) from 6.5 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier. Net profit grew 33 percent from a year ago to 9.4 billion yuan.

    Funds cut equity allocations to lowest on record

    CHINA’S fund managers have cut the proportion of their portfolios to be invested in stocks over the next three months to an eight-year low, reflecting pessimism after the recent turbulence in China’s equities market, a poll showed.

    Fund managers cut their suggested equity allocations for the next three months to 66.3 percent, the lowest since June 2007 when the poll was first conducted, from 72.5 percent, according to a poll of eight China-based fund managers conducted this week.