China Shipping Group Buys Back to Shield Subsidiaries

China Shipping Group, the controlling shareholder of China Shipping Development Company Limited (CSD) and China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL), is making arrangements for increasing its shareholding in the two companies.

The move comes following the notice from China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to parent groups of listed companies to invest efforts in stabilizing the stock market that took a major tumble over the recent period inflicting a huge blow to one of the world’s top economies.

China Shipping increased its shareholding in CSD by purchasing 7 million A shares of the company and intends to continue increasing its shareholdings in the minimum aggregate amount of RMB151 million in the following six months, a filing with Shanghai Stock Exchange showed.

CSG also announced that it would buy back around 10m A shares of CSCL with RMB154 million within six months, pledging a total of USD 49.1 million for the overall share buyback package.

The Chinese stock market started to recover on Thursday with a 6% share rise, following the government’s announcement on Wednesday on prohibiting investors holding stakes of more than 5% to sell shares in the next six months.

The market held steady on Friday as well, however there is still a long way to go before the situation is fully stabilized.

World Maritime News Staff