The State-owned Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) kicked off its initial public offerings (IPO) procedure on April 7, with 21 underwriters reporting their preliminary underwriting schemes to the bank, caijing.com.cn reported Wednesday.
It signals a substantive stage in ABC's listing process. ABC is the only one that has not been listed among China's four major State-owned banks.
ABC is set to issue $30 billion new shares, including $10 billion Shanghai-listed A shares and $20 billion Hong Kong-listed H shares, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
After the preliminary review, ABC will organize a second round selection and decide the final list of underwriters for its IPO, the report said, citing relevant people from investment banks.
ABC reported an unaudited net profit of 65 billion yuan in 2009, up 26.3 percent from the previous year. By the end of 2009, ABC's capital adequacy ratio stood at 10 percent, with non-performing loan ratio at 2.9 percent.
