Lehman Brothers seeks partner for JV

LEHMAN Brothers Holdings Inc. said Friday it was looking for a Chinese partner to set up a securities joint venture to tap into the country’s fast-growing investment banking industry.

“Our vision for the China business is to offer clients the full range of the firm’s products and services,” Yang Zhizhong, chairman of Lehman Brothers’ China region, said. Lehman has benefited from a boom in mergers and acquisitions in China. The Wall Street bank tripled its 2007 China revenue from the previous year, Yang said, without elaborating.

Jinduicheng prices Shanghai IPO at top

JINDUICHENG Molybdenum Group, Asia’s top molybdenum producer, has priced its initial public offering at the top of its range, raising about 8.9 billion yuan (US$1.27 billion) in a Shanghai listing.

The firm plans to list in Shanghai on Thursday. Jinduicheng sold shares for the Shanghai IPO at 16.57 yuan apiece, compared with a range of between 15.00 and 16.57 yuan, the company said in a statement. Jinduicheng Molybdenum plans to issue up to 538 million A shares, or 20 percent of its expanded capital. It has said it needs 7.645 billion yuan to expand production of molybdenum, used to toughen alloy steel, and upgrade technology. Any extra proceeds from the IPO would be used to supplement working capital.

Merchants Bank net up at least 140 percent

CHINA Merchants Bank estimated Friday that net profit surged at least 140 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier.

The Shenzhen-based bank cited growing assets and non-interest income, expanding interest margins, falling credit costs and a lower corporate tax rate. In the first quarter of last year, it made a profit of 2.46 billion yuan (US$351.43 million).

Construction Bank profit jumps

CHINA Construction Bank, the country’s No. 2 lender by assets, met forecasts with a 51 percent jump in second-half earnings, boosted by higher fee income and margins.

The bank earned second-half net profit of 34.83 billion yuan (US$4.97 billion), compared with 23 billion yuan in the second half of 2006. For the full year, it earned 69.1 billion yuan, or 0.30 a share, from 46.3 billion yuan, or 0.21 yuan a share, a year earlier.