ZTE’s GSM shipments up 100 percent

ZTE Corp., China’s second-largest telecom equipment maker, said Friday that shipments of its GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) products rose 100 percent in the first quarter.

Shenzhen-based ZTE attributed the growth to rapid expansion overseas, where demand was strong for products using the GSM wireless standard. The company shipped 60,000 transceivers in the first quarter of this year, compared with 29,000 in the first quarter of 2007, a spokeswoman said. ZTE said its equipment was deployed by more than 60 operators in over 50 countries. GSM is the dominant second-generation mobile phone standard in many parts of the world, while the code division multiple access (CDMA) standard is also widely used.

Galaxy Securities plans IPO this year

CHINA Galaxy Securities Co., the nation’s biggest brokerage by assets, may sell shares in an initial public offering this year, an executive at its parent said.

“It depends on the progress of the preparations,’’ Zhu Li, chairman of China Galaxy Financial Holdings Co., said at a conference in Shanghai on Saturday. The Beijing-based securities firm has posted profits for two consecutive years. Companies need three straight years of profits in order to sell shares in an IPO on the mainland, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Zhu wouldn’t comment on whether the company was seeking an exemption from the rule. Galaxy Securities has 167 outlets and 47 service offices across the country. The company made 5.1 billion yuan (US$728 million) last year, almost a fourfold increase from the 1.39 billion it earned in 2006. Galaxy lost 462 million yuan in 2005.

Pudong Bank sees long wait before share sale

SHANGHAI Pudong Development Bank has not applied to regulators for approval of a planned share sale and expects a long wait before it can proceed, its president said Friday.

“It seems we may have to wait quite a long time to issue our new shares, given that the market environment is very poor at present,” Pudong Bank president Fu Jianhua said. “We must consider the market’s ability to handle it,” he said, saying the launch of the share issue was likely to come some time after the Beijing Olympics in August. The bank’s shareholders in March approved a plan to raise up to 20 billion yuan (US$2.86 billion) via a sale of new shares in order to boost its capital base.