Prosperity Minerals mulling dual listing in HK
Chinese cement maker Prosperity Minerals Holdings Limited is considering a dual listing in Hong Kong in a bid to maximise shareholder value, Chief Financial Officer Patrick Li said on Tuesday.
"When we have come across here (to London) at previous results, investors have said it would be good to have a dual listing," said in an interview.
"We are valued at about seven or eight times earnings, whereas similar companies in Hong Kong are up at about 30 or 40 times," he added.
Prosperity raised US$221.9m when it floated on London’s junior market Alternative Investment market (AIM) last May -- a time that Hong Kong was a less attractive place to list, Li said.
One of the reasons Prosperity has made little ground since its IPO is that it released a profit warning in September – a move that knocked 20 percent off the share price in one session.
But Sandy Chim – a non-executive director speaking to Reuters alongside Li – said the warning had been forced purely by an unexpected jump in freight rates for its iron ore supplies, and that the firm had put in contingency plans for if this happened again.
"We are looking at margins as opposed to volume and have identified new sources for iron ore in Asia," he said. "Whereas rates from Brazil are around $40/t – Thailand is $15 and Indonesia $18."
Published under Cement News
