Chenming Paper shelves HK IPO plan

Shangdong Chenming Paper Holdings<000488><200488>, one of China's leading paper maker, may scrap its planned initial public offering in Hong Kong, said the company in a statement today.

Chenming, which got green light to issue as much as 409.09 million shares in Hong Kong, said it has submitted an application to the board to postpone the IPO by one year. The proposal is still subject to the approval from its shareholders at a meeting scheduled on April 11.

Earlier last month, the paper maker, which already has RMB-denominated A shares and foreign currency-denominated B shares listed in Shenzhen, said it was eying a HK IPO to raise HK$3 billion (US$385 million) to finance construction of a wood pulp production base. It had planned to launch the offer by April 1 this year.

Furthermore, Chenming has received a government subsidy of RMB 80 million, which will boost its 2008 net profit by RMB 60 million, according to the statement.