[SINGAPORE] Shares of Yangzijiang (YZJ) Financial rose by 6 per cent on Wednesday (Jul 2) morning, following an update by the group on its incorporation of YZJ Maritime Development, a proposed spin-off company, as a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore.
The company’s shares rose 6 per cent or S$0.045 or to S$0.795 as at 9.52 am, and later to S$0.80 at 9.55 am.
By 10.32 am, its shares had eased to S$0.79, still up 5.3 per cent or S$0.04, with nearly 17.8 million securities changing hands, and subsequently S$0.78 at 10.38 am.
YZJ Financial shared that the group had incorporated the maritime subsidiary on Apr 28, at an issued and paid-up share capital of US$100, comprising 100 ordinary shares issued at US$1 per share, in a company statement on Wednesday.
The subsidiary serves as a holding company of YZJ Financial, and the group presently owns the entire share capital in YZJ Maritime.
This update comes after the group announced on Apr 27 that it was exploring plans to spin off its maritime investment segment into a newly incorporated company to be listed separately on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange, with YZJ Financial’s executive chairman and chief executive officer Ren Yuanlin set to lead the spin-off group.
The aim of the proposed spin-off and listing would be to create two separate listed company groups to pursue more targeted business strategies and accelerate growth, said the company. This would allow for more efficient capital allocation, tailored to the differing strategies of each business.
“This is a natural evolution of our strategy. Our maritime business is ready to stand on its own, backed by strong fundamentals and a clear vision for expansion,” said Ren previously. “By separating our maritime segment from YZJ Financial’s investment platform, we will be better positioned to pursue focused growth while delivering enhanced value to shareholders.”
The company earlier in March announced that it had raised S$139.3 million in net cash proceeds through a placement of its treasury shares to redeploy them for maritime investments. It agreed to divest its entire treasury shareholding of 193.5 million shares at S$0.72 apiece.
