China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd, the country's third-largest life insurer, is planning to relaunch its Hong Kong initial public offering in the second half, an investment-banking source told China Daily yesterday.

The insurer, which tried to raise around 30 billion yuan from the Hong Kong bourse last year, has been in discussions with several investment banks to kick off the plan again, said the source.

"They are trying to float the Hong Kong IPO within this year, but that still depends on the market situation and investors' attitude about the pricing," the source said.

According to Wang Xiaogang, senior analyst with Shanghai-based Orient Securities, the recent performance of China Pacific Insurance's A shares indicates investors' anticipation for the imminent IPO on the HK bourse.

"Floating shares will definitely help China Pacific better expand its business but is not likely to largely enhance its profitability," Wang said.

According to an earlier report by Shanghai Securities News, the top management of China Pacific Insurance just held an internal meeting recently and has approved the Hong Kong IPO relaunch plan.

The insurer is also planning to have a board meeting in August to discuss the plan. Once the plan receives green light, it will still need approval from the industry regulator and the general meeting.

China Pacific Insurance said in a statement that premiums of its life insurance subsidiary reached 35.2 billion yuan in the first half of the year, while premiums from its asset insurance subsidiary were 18.6 billion yuan.

(China Daily July 16, 2009)