World Bank sets guidance for SDR bonds

    THE World Bank has set an indicative yield range for three-year Special Drawing Right (SDR) denominated bonds set for issue in China at 0.4-0.7 percent, the Shanghai Clearing House said.

    The bank marketed 500 million SDRs (US$700 million) in the notes in the interbank bond market yesterday. The World Bank has approval from the People’s Bank of China for a 2 billion SDR program. The issue will be the first SDR bond in 35 years and is part of a wider push in China to increase the net supply of such bonds, stepping up ongoing efforts to internationalize the yuan.

    Tsingtao Brewery profit falls 11%

    TSINGTAO Brewery Co., China’s second-largest brewer by volume, yesterday said net profit fell 10.8 percent for the first half of this year as slower economic growth and tougher-to-please consumers dragged on growth.

    Profit reached 1.07 billion yuan (US$160.23 million) in the six months through June versus 1.2 billion yuan in the same period of 2015, the brewer said, its lowest first-half profit since 2012. Tsingtao said soft economic growth, a depressed mid-to-high end dining market, tough competition and unfavorable weather had weighed on the domestic beer market in the first half.

    Evergrande profit tumbles by a quarter

    CHINA Evergrande Group, the country’s second-largest developer, yesterday posted a 23 percent drop in first-half core profit, weighed down by a slew of higher costs, including those for building materials to marketing.

    Although revenue jumped 12.6 percent to 87.5 billion yuan as government incentives bolstered the housing market, core net profit, which does not include revaluation gains or losses, slid to 7.8 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion).

    China Eastern, BA in code-share deal

    CHINA Eastern Airlines Corp. said yesterday it has signed a code-sharing deal with British Airways (BA) for flights on seven Chinese and seven British routes.

    Under terms of the deal, China’s second-largest carrier said passengers flying with BA to Shanghai’s Pudong airport or Chengdu will be able to carry on to cities like Kunming or Hangzhou using China Eastern flights, effective yesterday. Meanwhile, China Eastern passengers on flights to London Heathrow will be able to make connections via BA flights on seven routes to cities such as Manchester and Glasgow.