Global Biz

Temasek plays down China share sales

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-07-07 10:32

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's sovereign wealth funds Temasek Holdings has said its partial sale of stakes in China's state-owned banking giants Bank of China (BOC) and China Construction Bank (CCB) is part of its routine portfolio adjustment, a local daily reported on Thursday.

"This sale is part of our portfolio rebalancing, which we do from time to time," the Business Times quoted a Temasek spokesman as saying in a statement on Wednesday. "Temasek continues to hold substantial positions in Chinese banks."

Temasek Holdings reportedly raised $3.62 billion from share placements in the two banks.

Temasek had a 6.76 percent stake, or 16.91 billion shares, in CCB as at December 31, 2010, according to the lender's annual report for 2010. It also had a 4.06 percent stake in BOC. After the share placements, its stakes in the CCB and BOC have been reduced to 6.2 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

Prices of CCB shares fell by 3.24 percent to close at HK$6.27 on the Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday, while BOC lost 3.63 percent to close at HK$3.72.

Temasek is expected to announce its financial results for the financial year ended March 31, 2011 on Thursday. Analysts have tipped for its assets to grow strongly from 186 billion Singapore dollars ($151.2 billion) last year to a record 200 billion Singapore dollars ($162.6 billion).