China Daily Global Edition (USA)

CCB lists $1.2b bond on Nasdaq Dubai

- By WU YIYAO in Shanghai wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn

Private equity firm H&Q Asia Pacific said PhiSkin — a cosmetic medical services provider which operates a skin and laser clinic in its investment portfolio — completed series B fundraisin­g in early June, one more deal in the sector which is attracting increasing amounts of capital in China.

Legend Capital led the 120 million yuan ($17 million) series B round in PhiSkin, the Shanghai-based aesthetic medical and beauty services provider that focuses on skin treatment.

H&Q led PhiSkin’s series A round fundraisin­g, and invested some 54 million yuan of the total 64 million yuan raised in 2015.

The private equity firm said that the internal rate of return target for its PhiSkin investment was at least 30 percent and 40 percent, and the exit plan included an initial pubic offeringin­theA-sharemarke­t.

“A lot of capital from Chinese investors poured into private equity investment. Healthcare is one of the hottest sectors together with TMT,” said Mark Hsu, managing director of H&Q.

“Out of the many different niche sectors in the healthcare industry, medical aesthetic clinics are the easiest to understand and operate,” Hsu added.

He said that demand for aesthetic medical services would continue to expand as the middle class population grows steadily, and mid-tohigh income people required more anti-aging services.

“If we just consider highqualit­y medical aesthetic services which are operated by real high quality doctors, the supply is not enough,” he said.

“That’s why we believe that to build up a well-known Mark Hsu, retail brand with real medical profession­al operation in this sector can have a long-term success.”

China’s aesthetic medical services sector has been appealing to a wide range of investors. That has included Nanjing-based Suning group, which set 5 billion yuan fund to invest into aesthetic medical services, and Beijingbas­ed female fashion retailer Lancy, which acquired stakes in six beauty clinics and now seeks to raise more fund to invest in a cosmetic services hospital.

Shanghai-based conglomera­te Fosun also invested in acquiring stakes in aesthetic medicalequ­ipmentandm­aterial suppliers, aesthetic medical informatio­n providers, and aesthetic medical clinics -- in a bid to profit from the fast-growing market throughout the entire value chain.

According to data from the country’s representa­tive body for comestic medical services and plastic surgery, the Chinese Associatio­n of Platics and Aesthetics, the country now has more than 10,000 aesthetic medical services clinics, and some 3 million quasi-aesthetics stores without medical service qualificat­ions providing services such as acne treatment and antiaging treatment.

Analysts estimate that in 2014, some 1 percent of the population used aesthetic medical services, and the number is seen reaching about 17 percent by 2019.

“The aesthetic medical services market is quite fragmented in China, but its size is expanding fast. By 2020 the market will reach a size of one-trillion yuan, so significan­t market consolidat­ion is expected,” said a research note by China Merchant Securities.

has a facial care at a hospital in Zhengzhou, Henan A lot of capital from Chinese investors poured into private equity investment.” managing director of H&Q Asia Pacific

BEIJING — Nearly seven in 10 Chinese-listed companies on the country’s Nasdaq-style board are poised to register hefty profits for the first half of this year.

The data cast light on the gathering momentum in emerging sectors and the solid economic fundamenta­ls of the country.

As of Monday, nearly 69 percent of 64 Chinese publicly traded companies listed on the ChiNext had forecast profit growth or projected that losses would be transferre­d to gains in the January-June period. The figures were released by Choice, a leading financial data provider.

Analysts stressed that profitabil­ity of listed companies offers insight into broader economic performanc­e.

Breakdown figures revealed that only 12 companies, or 18.8 percent of the total, are set to witness a decline in profits or report a loss for the first six months. The remainders have not made profit projection­s.

Five listed companies, including Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical and Electrical, predicted

BEIJING — Guo You, chairman of the board of supervisor­s of China Constructi­on Bank on Wednesday rang the market-opening bell to celebrate the listing of a $1.2 billion bond on Nasdaq Dubai, the stock exchange that lists regional and internatio­nal shares in the Middle East.

Nasdaq Dubai said in a statement that the listing by the Hong Kong Branch of CCB “underlines the country’s growing financial activities in the United Arab Emirates and having the potential to at least nearly double their net profits in the first six months.

The solar energy giant expects its net profits to surge between 70 percent and 100 percent year-on-year in the first six months, due to rising outlays on research and developmen­t.

Smart manufactur­ing now features on the company’s production lines, reducing operationa­l costs and improving work efficiency. Moreover, strengthen­ed efforts on new product design and upgrading in tandem with stock option incentive plans sharpened technologi­cal competitiv­eness.

Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical and Electrical is testimony to the performanc­e of Chinese companies that are driving up the global value chain as part of the country’s economic restructur­ing.

China is moving toward an economyboo­stedbycons­umer spending, innovation and services, reducing reliance on investment and exports of low value-added goods.

Last year, Chinese companies reported

are set to witness a decline airne pserot ftoitswiot­nr ersespaord­teaclilnoe­ssin pfrorfiths eorfriresp­tosritxaml­oossnftohr­sthe first six months

listed brisk the wider region.”

CCB’s market capitaliza­tion totaled $192.6 billion dollars at the end of 2016, the fifth biggest of any bank in the world, and it has branches and subsidiari­es in 29 countries.

It is the second bond listing by the Hong Kong Branch of CCB on Nasdaq Dubai under the bank’s $6 billion Medium Term Note Program, following a $600 million bond that listed on the bourse in October.

“The capital raised through our bond supports our growing profit growth as they ramped up spending on research and developmen­t, with emerging sectors outperform­ing traditiona­l industries.

Combined net profits from growth enterprise­s listed on the tech and emerging sectorheav­y ChiNext board surged 36.7 percent in 2016 compared to the previous year.

That was faster than the 4.3 percent growth from publicly traded companies on the two main bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to data from Choice.

On a national scale, China’s research and developmen­t expenditur­e jumped 9.4 percent to 1.55 trillion yuan ($228 billion) last year compared to 2015.

That accounted for 2.08 percent of gross domestic product in 2016, data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed.

Smart manufactur­ing and emerging sectors such as nextgenera­tion commercial banking and other activities in the UAE, the Middle East and beyond, under the Belt and Road Initiative,” said CCB’s Guo.

The Belt and Road Initiative is a strategic masterplan introduced in 2013, aimed at economical­ly integratin­g Asia with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Essa Kazim, governor of the Dubai Internatio­nal Financial Centre which hosts Nasdaq Dubai as a licensed market, said Dubai was committed to expanding its economic links with China in order to support dynamic crossborde­r business initiative­s and promote mutual prosperity and developmen­t.

“The capital markets are one of the many areas in which our relationsh­ip is strengthen­ing and we will continue to enhance our exchange infrastruc­ture to support the business needs of Chinese institutio­ns,” he said.

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 ?? MA JIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY ?? A woman province.
MA JIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY A woman province.

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