Offshore yuan slumps on devaluation fears

    CHINA’S currency slumped to its lowest level in almost a month against the U.S. dollar in Hong Kong on Friday, the latest sign that investors are betting on a further devaluation in the yuan.

    The so called offshore yuan tumbled to 6.3907 per dollar, the lowest level since Sept. 25. That compares with 6.3530 to the dollar on the mainland. The difference was earlier as much as 0.0496 yuan, the largest gap since Sept. 23.

    AgBank net profit up 1%, bad loan ratio rises

    AGRICULTURAL Bank of China Ltd. (AgBank), the country’s third-biggest lender by assets, Saturday reported a 1 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, in line with analysts’ estimates.

    The first of China’s five biggest banks to report quarterly earnings, AgBank said its net profit for the June-September period was 48.90 billion yuan (US$7.70 billion), compared with 48.41 billion yuan in the year-ago period. Analysts at Pingan Securities and China Merchants Securities expected an year-on-year 0.2 percent growth in net profit in the third quarter. AgBank said the nonperforming loan ratio increased to 2.02 percent at the end of September from 1.83 percent at end-June, representing a fifth consecutive quarterly increase.

    Shenhua Energy to buy assets from parent

    CHINA Shenhua Energy Co. said Friday it has agreed to buy power plant assets from its parent company for 5.39 billion yuan (US$847.8 million), a move intended to boost the firm’s business scale.

    The coal mining company said it agreed to buy Ningdong Power Plant, Xuzhou Power Plant and a 51 percent stake in Zhoushan Power Plant from Shenhua Group Corp. The total cost will be paid for with the firm’s internal financial resources, it said, adding that the acquisitions could help reduce competition with its parent.

    Huarong Asset raises US$2.3b in HK IPO

    CHINA Huarong Asset Management Co. has raised HK$17.8 billion (US$2.3 billion) through an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong after pricing the deal near the bottom of a marketing range, IFR reported late Thursday.

    China Huarong, China’s largest distressed debt manager, priced the IPO at HK$3.09 a share after marketing it in the HK$3.03-HK$3.39 each range, said IFR, citing sources close to the deal. The bad debt manager becomes the second major Hong Kong IPO in recent weeks where more than half the offer was filled by commitments from mainland State-linked entities.