SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s three largest telecommunications companies dropped to 5% in Hong Kong on Monday, the first trading session since the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said it would list the companies according to a plan that China calls ‘political’. mentioned. ”And of“ limited ”impact.
The NYSE said on Thursday that it would withdraw from China Mobile Ltd, China Telecom Corp. block.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission, which posted a question-and-answer session on its website on Sunday, said the plan was “politically motivated”.
The move “disregards the real situation of the companies involved and the legal rights and interests of global investors and seriously undermines normal market rules,” he said.
The US deposit receipts listed by the three telecommunications companies have a combined market value of less than 20 billion yuan ($ 3.07 billion), or 2.2% of the company’s capital.
“Even though it is listed, the direct impact on the development and market operations of the companies is quite limited,” he said.
China Mobile’s shares fell 4.5% in Hong Kong on Monday to 42.20 HK, the lowest price since July 2007. China Telecom fell to 5.6% and China Unicom lost 3.4% to 0.8 % increase in the default Hang Seng index. .
All three said they had not received any listing from the NYSE.
In a research note, analysts at Citic Securities said the delisting decision is in line with expectations.
“The three companies listed on average only 1.5% of their shares in the USA and the rest in Hong Kong, they have enough liquidity and have not done any fundraising in the USA for twenty years. If you listed shares in the US, it just carries more risk. ”
Washington has sharpened its tough stance against China in recent weeks. In December, it blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies and accused Beijing of using them to use civilian technology for military purposes.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that it would take “necessary measures” to protect the interests of Chinese businesses.
“In recent years, it has been quite normal for Chinese companies to list in the US or have secondary listings in Hong Kong,” Citic analysts wrote on Monday. “With the delisting, the three telecommunications companies will have the opportunity to re-evaluate their shares and reduce the financial disclosure costs.”
($ 1 = 6.5250 yuan)
Reporting by Engen Tham, Wang Jing, Samuel Shen and Pei Li; Edited by Christopher Cushing