泛华

中国泛华保险开盘首日强劲上涨

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN3131045620071031?pageNumber=1

NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The soaring debut of CNinsure (CISG), a Chinese insurance agency and brokerage, on Wednesday made it the third best first-day performer among Chinese initial public offerings on U.S. stock exchanges so far this year.

American Depositary Shares of CNinsure Inc closed up 58 percent at $25.29, a day after an initial public offering priced above expectations, raising $188 million.

On Tuesday, CNinsure's offering of 11.8 million ADS priced at $16 per share, compared with a forecast range of $13 to $15, which was raised from a range of $11 to $13 a share.

Each ADS represents 20 ordinary shares. Underwriters were led by Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

CNinsure, an independent agency which has been in business since 1999, has about 11,0000 sales professionals in outlets operating from eight of China's 22 provinces.

Chief Financial Officer David Tang told Reuters the company plans to expand its network to more parts of the country, including through acquisitions, but did not specify what rate of growth it expects to achieve.

"I could not give you a roadmap, definitely we are looking to expand," he said, adding he believes that, by revenue, CNinsure is the largest domestic insurance agency in China.

From 2000 to 2005, the Chinese insurance market grew by more than 200 percent, from 160.9 billion yuan to 492.8 billion yuan, according to CNinsure's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

As with a recent string of other hotly anticipated Chinese IPOs on U.S. stock markets, CNInsure has attracted interest largely because of its strong revenue growth, driven by the increasing spending power of China's growing middle class.

The company played up this fact in its registration statement with the SEC: "We believe that the continued accumulation of wealth ... presents substantial opportunities for increasing sales."

The three best-performing U.S. IPOs by Chinese companies this year all staged their debuts in October.

On Oct. 23 Longtop Financial Technologies (LFT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which provides information technology services to China's burgeoning financial services sector, secured the No. 1 spot by rising 85 percent in its debut. And on Oct. 4 China Digital TV (STV.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a cable television provider, clinched the No. 2 spot by rising 75 percent in its market debut.

CNinsure's revenue, which is net of business tax levied by the Chinese government, rose 41 percent to 246.5 million yuan ($32.4 million) in 2006 from 143.7 million yuan a year earlier, according to its filing with the SEC. Net income was 57.3 million yuan in 2006 versus a loss of 6.7 million yuan in 2005.

However, the company warned that "intense" competition among insurance companies in China has begun to gradually deflate insurance premium rates for some property and casualty insurance products.

The company, based in Guangzhou, earns commissions and service fees. It plans to use the offering's proceeds to fund acquisitions, establish joint ventures, upgrade systems including I.T. infrastructure and establish Web-based sales systems, and for capital expenditure, according to its regulatory filing in the United States.