Shares in Guangshen Railway Company Ltd. ended 64.1 percent up on their issue price after their initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) on Friday.

The biggest railway operator in South China opened its shares at a price of 6.72 yuan, climbing to a high of 6.8 yuan and falling to a low of 6.15 yuan during the course of trading.

They closed at 6.17 yuan, with 697 million shares changing hands in transactions worth 4.49 billion yuan.

Guangshen Railway Company Ltd, based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, operates the 147-km Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway, one of the country's most modern lines, and is mainly engaged in passenger and freight transport.

It is one of the country's most profitable transport companies and is also listed in Hong Kong and New York.

The company raised 10.33 billion yuan from an issue of 2.75 billion A shares targeting domestic investors, with the issue price fixed at 3.76 yuan, said a spokesman with Guangzhou Railways Group, the controlling shareholder.

Revenue from the share issue will be used to buy the right to operate a 329-km local railway owned by another company in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong, said the sources.

The acquisition is expected to boost Guangshen Railway Company annual operating revenue to 9.4 billion yuan, tripling its 2005 standard, with 1.43 billion yuan in after-tax profits and total assets climbing to 25 billion yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2006)