Shenhua Energy net profit down 28%

    CHINA Shenhua Energy Co.’s net profit fell 28 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier on lower coal prices.

    Shenhua Energy, the listed arm of the Shenhua Group, China’s biggest coal producer, said Friday its first quarter net profit was 4.74 billion yuan (US$731.9 million), compared with 6.62 billion yuan a year earlier. Its first quarter revenue dropped 4.6 percent to 39.40 billion yuan from 41.29 billion yuan a year ago. In 2015, Shenhua Energy’s net profit was 16.14 billion yuan, down from the previous year’s 37.4 billion yuan.

    Chengtong to take control of China Railway Material

    CHINA Chengtong Holdings Group Ltd., a State-owned transportation firm, will take control of China Railway Material Group Co. and restructure its debt, the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said on its website Friday.

    One of China Railway Material’s subsidiaries requested a trading suspension of its bonds earlier in April due to repayment difficulties, making it the first centrally administered State-owned enterprise to do so. Trading was later resumed. China Chengtong will lead a reorganization of China Railway Material’s leadership and business and ensure the business runs smoothly, the commission said.

    China Construction Bank profit rises 1.4%

    CHINA Construction Bank Corp. (CCB), the country’s second-biggest lender by assets, posted a 1.4 percent rise in first quarter net profit Friday.

    The last one of China’s five big banks to report first quarter earnings, CCB said its profit reached 67.95 billion yuan (US$10.5 billion) in the three months through March from 67 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier. CCB’s nonperforming loan ratio rose to 1.63 percent by end-March, from 1.58 percent at the end of 2015.

    Hedge fund manager, CITIC execs arrested

    ONCE prominent hedge fund manager Xu Xiang, general manager of Shanghai-based investment firm Zexi Investment, has been arrested for insider trading and manipulating stock prices, Xinhua reported Friday.

    Cheng Boming, former general manager of China’s largest securities firm CITIC Securities, and two other executives from the brokerage have also been arrested on similar charges, Xinhua said, without further elaboration.