China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s biggest steelmaker, will seek to raise as much as US$743.53 million by issuing 37.8 million global depositary receipts (GDRs) — each of which represents 20 China Steel common shares — at an average price of US$19.67.
In a stock exchange filing yesterday, the Siaogang District (小港), Greater Kaohsiung-based company said it would use the proceeds from the GDR sale to fund the procurement of raw materials overseas.
China Steel said it would issue the GDR on Aug. 1 and it would be traded on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
With the pricing of each GDR equivalent to NT$28.32 per common share (based on an exchange rate of NT$28.793 against the US dollar), the new shares are being sold at a 4.49 percent discount from China Steel’s closing price of NT$29.65 on Tuesday.
China Steel shares closed 1.52 percent higher yesterday at NT$30.1.
Analysts said the company might use part of the proceeds to fund a second blast furnace at Dragon Steel Corp (中龍), a China Steel unit based in Longjing District (龍井), Greater Taichung. The new furnace is under construction and is scheduled to start production in 2013.
The company might also use the proceeds to support its expansion plans for cold-rolled coils, which are used mainly in the automotive industry, as well as to make strategic investments in global mining companies that would help the firm secure a steady supply of raw materials, such as iron ore and coking coal, Citigroup Global Markets said in a note on July 18.
China Steel yesterday downplayed the potential share dilution caused by the GDR issue, saying instead the funds raised would help strengthen its balance sheet.
Citigroup estimated the potential dilution at about 6 percent, while Daiwa Capital Markets predicted a 5.9 percent dilution to its earnings per share over the next two years.
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
The US said it plans to help build a first-of-its-kind industrial hub in the Philippines to boost production of inputs crucial to US supply chains. The 4,000-acre hub is intended to be “a purpose-built platform for allied manufacturing” and “an investment acceleration hub where the specific industrial activities are shaped by market demand,” the US Department of State said on Thursday. The project — touted as an “economic security zone” — would be within the Luzon Economic Corridor, a flagship economic project backed by the US and Japan on the main Philippine island. The project was also described as “the first artificial intelligence
RSS