Shanghai Airlines to go public

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 ◆ Shanghai Airlines to go public

Shanghai Airlines Co., Ltd. based in east China's largest city plans to issue 200 million Class-A shares at a price of 5.33 yuan (0.642 US dollar) per share in the domestic equity market.

With the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the industry watchdog, all of the company's initial public offering (IPO) will be placed with investors in the secondary stock market.

According to its IPO prospectus, Shanghai Airlines plans to raise more than 1 billion yuan (120.482 million dollars) through the share issue and use most of the money for importing new planes, building hangars at Pudong Airport and for a flight e-commerce project.

The company conducted a roadshow recently in Shanghai to report its performance and development potential to targeted investors.

Initially founded in 1985, Shanghai Airlines turned into a joint-stock company in 2000, with 521 million yuan (62.771 milliondollars) in registered capital. It has become one of China's strongest local airlines, with a fleet of 25 planes, 130-plus flight routes in operation and a service network covering 48 Chinese cities and five international cities.

Last year Shanghai Airlines ranked sixth in transport turnover among domestic airway companies and first among those which are not directly controlled by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China. It aims to achieve average annual growth of more than 13 percent in revenue by 2005.