Shanghai exchange wants more deals with peers

SHANGHAI Stock Exchange has outlined plans for closer links with other markets, seeking business and strategic cooperation with other exchanges that could include buying stakes in its peers.

Shanghai exchange is the mainland’s biggest stock exchange, with about 1,400 companies and total market value of 33.27 trillion yuan (US$5 trillion). The exchange said that it also plans to encourage more foreign companies to issue yuan-denominated bonds, or panda bonds, at its venue. On-exchange trading accounted for 4 percent of the mainland’s bond market last year, according to data from the central bank.

CITIC Securities reports 11% rise in profit

CITIC Securities, China’s biggest brokerage, reported an 11-percent rise in third-quarter earnings.

Net profit for July through September rose to 3 billion yuan from 2.70 billion yuan a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Brokerages are more wary of prospects for this year after the stock market slump last year, with many cutting costs to boost capital and expecting to take a hit from tougher margin finance rules.

PetroChina’s net profit leaps

PETROCHINA, China’s largest oil and gas producer, reported Monday a leap in third-quarter net profit on rebounding crude prices and deleveraging.

Net profit surged to 4.69 billion yuan, up 290 percent from a year earlier, as the company cut debt and interest expenses. Revenues rose to 481.8 billion yuan, up 17 percent from the same period last year, PetroChina said. PetroChina’s earnings could be lifted in the fourth quarter of the year as it is expected to raise wholesale natural gas prices by 20 percent from mid-November just as the winter heating season starts, analysts said.

Shanxi calls for gas supply guarantee

SHANXI, China’s top coal producing province, called opon local authorities to ensure natural gas supplies during winter and not to “blindly” push ahead with the Central Government’s coal-to-gas policy, Xinhua reported Monday.

“Authorities should guarantee gas supply before setting coal-to-gas conversion tasks ... and ensure a minimum three-day volume of gas storage in the local region,” Xinhua quoted a statement issued by Shanxi Province’s development and reform commission.