China Stocks Volatile; Jiangxi Copper Net Up

Chandrasekhar Atreya
26 Aug, 2010
New York City

Stocks in China dropped after choppy trading in international markets. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd first half net surged 35% and Cosco Shipping Co net surged 54%. Alibaba.com completes its second acquisition.

[R]5:00 PM Hong Kong, China – Stocks in China dropped after choppy trading in international markets. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd first half net surged 35% and Cosco Shipping Co net surged 54%. Alibaba.com completes its second acquisition.[/R]

China stocks fluctuated several times to rally modestly at the close, led by coal producers and positive earnings from companies. Stocks in Hong Kong however traded lower in the day.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 011% or 22.92 to close at 20,612.06. The CSI 300 Index in China gained 0.25% or 7.07 to close at 2,850.09.

Jiangxi Copper Co, China’s biggest copper producer, said its first half profit soared 77% after production and prices of gold and copper increased. Net income climbed to 2.1 billion yuan in the six months ended June 30, from 1.2 billion yuan a year earlier, the Guixi, Jaingxi province-based company said in a statement today.

China Telecom Corp, the nation’s biggest fixed-line carrier, posted better-than-expected second quarter profit after the company almost doubled the number of users of its mobile phones.

Profit excluding gains from connection fees rallied 22% to 4.54 billion yuan from 3.71 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said on its Web site Wednesday.

China Life, the world’s top life insurer by market value, warned of more market uncertainty, after second quarter profit fell 27% amid write-downs in a weak stock market.

The insurer and its top domestic rival, Ping An Insurance, which reported on Tuesday, took hits from stock market investments and have flagged a possible slowdown as China tries to cool its racing economy.

But unlike China Life, Ping An’s diversification into other financial products, including banking, helped to shield it from the worst effects of the stock market downturn.

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, the Chinese owner of Volvo Car Corp net jumped 35% in first half.

The car maker earned 804 million yuan for the half year ended June, up from 595 million yuan a year earlier with turnover rising 55% to 9,23 billion yuan from a year earlier, Geely said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Wednesday.

Cosco Shipping Co, the unit of China’s largest operator of dry bulk cargo ships, said its profit in the first half soared 54% after shipping rates rebounded as the economy rebounded.

Net income for the half year ended June 30 totaled 146 million yuan with revenue rising by 1.38% from a year earlier, to 2.03 billion yuan.

Air China Ltd, the world’s largest carrier by market value, said its first half profit rose 60% on surging travel demand and fuel-hedging gains.

Net income for the half year ended June 30, rose to 4.61 billion yuan from 2.88 billion yuan a year earlier, with sales rising 51% to 34.8 billion yuan, the company said in a statement to Hong Kong Stock Exchange Wednesday.

China Resources Enterprises Ltd said its first half profit more than tripled on a rebound in consumer spending and gains from selling its textile, fashion, and container terminal units.

Net income for the half year to June climbed to HK$4.24 billion from HK$1.16 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Thursday.

Alibaba.com said it made its second acquisition in the U.S. of Auctiva, a third-party software developer for e-commerce websites and plans to buy more online retailers.

Nasdaq-listed China Architectural Engineering Inc said Wednesday it completed a majority stake acquisition of Shanghai Conngame Network Ltd, by offering 25 million shares of CAE, according to a statement by the company.

Glory Ltd of Japan is expanding sales of money handling machines in China’s interior places, looking to capitalize on growing demand for these machines as personal incomes grow and ATMs become more common.

Light emitting diode, an energy-efficient and environment friendly lighting technology, will be widely used in public transport, such as in newly built high-speed railway system, Shanghai Daily gathered Wednesday.

Shanghai Movers

China Coal Energy, the nation’s second biggest coal producer, rose 1.5% to 9.77 yuan and Datong Coal Industry Ltd, the third-biggest, added 1.4% to 16.41 yuan. China Shenhua Energy Co added 0.5% to 23.91.

Earlier Premier Wen Jiabao called for accelerated consolidation in the coal mining industry.

China Cosco, the World’s largest operator of dry bulk ships and Jiangxi Copper rallied at least 1.2% after reporting better than expected earnings.