Your Source For Asian Investment Information
China Datang Corp. sold 2.14 billion shares at HK$2.33 apiece, after offering them in the range of HK$2.33 to HK$3.18, according to employees who asked to remain anonymous before the official announcement.
China Datang Corp. Renewable Power Co. raised the minimum $643 million sought in a Hong Kong IPO. Its rival, Huaneng Renewables Corp. called off its sale, worrying that the Chinese economy will slow down
At a meeting in Beijing to set economic policy guidelines, Chinese leaders decided to work on stabilizing prices and to speed up a change in China’s growth model next year.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao attended the Central Economic Work Conference. The government reiterated its intention to keep the currency stable but did not stipulate any specific economic targets.
China is trying to increase private consumption and service industries, which will help the world economy. China is tightening monetary policy to slow down inflation from its current high of 5.1%
Lu Zhengwei, an economist with Industrial Bank Co in Shanghai, predicted that “The top concern for the government next year will be to contain inflation, stabilize growth and spur consumption,”
A stronger Chinese currency would lower global trade imbalances, boost private consumption and contain inflation, according to U.S. officials.
Fortune magazine’s India list of the 500 largest corporations included four Government owned companies among the top five companies in terms of revenue. The first company was Indian Oil Corp. The other high ranked companies were Reliance Industries, the State Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum — all of which along with Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Tata Motors and Tata Steel which were also ranked in the Fortune 500 list of global corporations.
The rankings are determined by the company’s total revenues, year-on-year change in revenues, net operating income, profit, net worth, assets, dividends and total salaries.
Deloitte’s trackingAlso Awarded Best of Financial Applications Award in HONG KONG, to AsiaPay Limited. AsiaPay is a leading electronic payment service, solution and technology provider in Asia. This award rewards the efforts of the quickest-growing Asian technology companies.
The CEO of AsiaPay, Mr. Joseph Chan, said “This award shows recognition of AsiaPay’s effort in the ePayment technology space and its ability to continue solid, fast business and revenue growth in the market. We will continue to expand dynamically across geographic regions, product lines, use of technologies and to enhance service and operation management, enhancing value to our clients while optimizing business growth opportunities in coming years.”
Coty Adds Popular Chinese Brands to Its Growing Skin Care Portfolio
TJoy, a leading Chinese skin care company and Coty Inc., a major leader in global beauty, announced that the two companies have decided on a share purchase agreement that requires Coty to purchase a majority stake in TJoy Holdings, Ltd. Coty and TJoy expect to complete the share purchase this coming January. Coty’s strategic investment expands its skin care market by gaining a solid foothold in China through TJoy’s present distribution channels. The agreement also gives Coty an opportunity to enlarge its R&D capabilities.
The Chairman of TJoy, Mr. Chuang Wen Yang, said, “The combination of TJoy and Coty is an important milestone for TJoy and is a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone. I am very confident that our combined businesses will enjoy rapid growth through Coty’s global reach and marketing expertise. ”
According to Coty’s CEO, Bernd Beetz, “The TJoy investment makes Coty as a major business in China, solidifying our position as a global beauty leader. TJoy and Pure Plant Extract are sublime additions to the Coty skincare portfolio, and only make our portfolio stronger.” Mr. Beetz also said that “We are excited by this investment in TJoy and look forward to welcoming the TJoy employees into the worldwide Coty family.”
Coty, which employs more than 8,500 people worldwide, ended its 2010 fiscal year with net sales of $3.6 billion, up 3 percent from the 2009 fiscal year.
India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) will issue a Rs 1,200-crore retail infrastructure bond issue at the end of the year.
The bond issue would come in three stages of Rs 400 crore each between January and March, according to, managing director of IIFCL, S.K. Goel.
The IIFCL chief said the bonds that are AAA-rated will have a coupon rate of 8.5 per cent for 10 years and 8.75 per cent for the 15-year issue. At the end of five years both issues will have a put and call option.
The State Bank of India (SBI) bond issue received a great response from investors due to the high interest rates the bank is giving.
Cogo Group, Inc, announced today that the Chief Marketing Officer, William Davis will be at the Barclays 2010 Global Technology Conference on December 9, 2010. Cogo Group is based in China and provides embedded solutions and software for Chinese technology and industrial companies. Cogo serves as a proxy to China’s technology industry since it has connections with the majority of chinas OEMs and ODMs.
The Global Technology Conference will be in San Francisco at the Palace Hotel. At the presentation, Mr. Davis will outline Cogo’s strategies for 2011. There will be special emphasis on various revenue growth opportunities, including Auto Electronics and China’s HDTV upgrade cycle, a product of China’s Smart Meter/Grid systems. Investors can meet with Mr. Davis in private meetings on December 9, 2010. Participation in this conference is by invitation only. Please contact your Barclays representative if you wish to participate.
South Korea’s $37 billion sovereign wealth fund, The Korea Investment corp. intends to make three to four strategic investments in the coming year. They will invest with other state funds in order to diversify their portfolio.
Chief Investment Officer Scott E. Kalb said that “We are in discussions with our counterparts, sovereign wealth funds all over…We have already looked at a number of transactions together and we’re looking at some that are pending — our end goal is to wind up having a diversified strategic portfolio in a variety of sectors and countries.”
According to Kalb, KIC is investing more in public and non-traditional assets such as real estate and private equity in developing countries due to growth opportunities.
KIC has invested in some infrastructure and real estate investments in China. It has purchased properties in other Asian markets, African private equity, and is considering investments in Latin America, India, and more in China, he said. The company is investigating purchasing Japanese property due to rising prices.
TouchMagix has developed the “MagixTable”. It is a multi touch interactive table, with an application suite, many easy customization tools and forty simultaneous touch points.
Mr. Anup Tapadia founded TouchMagix Media after working in Silicon Valley. He believes that interactive technology is the next generation in the space of interactive media and its applications are infinite.
Outside developers can also design their own content for use on the MagixTable. The MagixTable also consumes 60% less power than other surface computers.
The initial market is for brand and corporate communications. However, eventually these products will be used by consumers, and in other industries such as medicine and education.
Asia’s property markets are set for a continuous slow tightening of regulations in coming months as authorities try to slow down rising home prices without causing a crash.
Last week Hong Kong announced its fifth implementation of regulations this year as it attempts to reduce property speculation. China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have also implemented more stringent regulations in recent months.
But investors’ interest in property continues to grow and prices continue to rise. That will likely lead governments to increase mortgage requirements again, increase land supply and – in China – to initiate even more property taxes.
Tim Condon, the research manager at ING Financial Markets in Singapore said that “My baseline scenario is we will need more measures – the current set worked but their impact is transitory.”
“We’re entering into unchartered waters because just one set of the measures introduced so far this year would have worked in previous times – but what we have right now are markets filled with liquidity and historically lower interest rates,” said Donald Han, vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield.
According to property broker Knight Frank, Hong Kong residential prices rose by 25% from mid-2009 to mid-2010 while those in Singapore increased by 37%.