(China) – China Merchants Bank has debuted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with its share price jumping on the first day of trading to 10.51 yuan (US$1.27) from the initial IPO price of 7.30 yuan (US$0.88).The Bank issued a total of 1.5 billion shares, 600 million of which were sold to retail investors, with the remainder selling to institutional investors and be locked up for another three to twelve months. This float of the fourth biggest mainland bank is so far the largest amongst publicly traded banks in China.
Some 15 years old, as at the end of 2001, the Bank had total assets of 266.3 billion yuan (US$32.16 billion) and net assets of 5.12 billion yuan (US$618.36 million), posting a 2001 net profit of 1.43 billion yuan (US$172.71 million) in net profits.