Due to limited effective financing capabilities from capital markets, SHENGJINGBANK is about to delist from the Hong Kong stock exchange. The Northeast region once had four listed banks, and with SHENGJINGBANK's delisting, only HARBIN BANK remains.

On the evening of August 26, SHENGJINGBANK, the largest city commercial bank in Northeast China, suddenly announced plans to initiate delisting from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

According to the announcement, Shengjing Financial Holdings and its concert parties have launched a comprehensive cash offer, planning to acquire all outstanding H shares for HK$2.967 billion (HK$1.32 per share), while simultaneously acquiring domestic shares for RMB 3.929 billion (RMB 1.20 per share), with a total investment of approximately RMB 6.652 billion. This acquisition price represents a 15.79% premium over SHENGJINGBANK's closing price of HK$1.14 on the last trading day (August 14).

Shengjing Financial Holdings was established in June 2017 with registered capital of RMB 21.889 billion. It serves as Shenyang's state-owned financial capital operation institution, with the Shenyang State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission as its actual controller.

Upon completion of the acquisition, SHENGJINGBANK plans to delist from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange H-share market.

The announcement clearly states that after delisting, the bank has no immediate plans to return to the A-share market.

Regarding the reasons for delisting, SHENGJINGBANK provided two main justifications:

First, to provide shareholders with better investment liquidation opportunities. The tender offer price represents a significant premium compared to the pre-suspension market price, and if implemented, will provide all shareholders (except the offeror and its concert parties) with a rare opportunity to liquidate their investments.

Second, achieving H-share delisting through the tender offer will help optimize resource allocation. The average daily H-share trading volume of SHENGJINGBANK over the 90, 180, and 360 trading days up to the last trading day represented only approximately 0.0025%, 0.0345%, and 0.0196% of total issued H shares, respectively. This low trading volume has severely limited SHENGJINGBANK's ability to raise funds effectively from equity markets, and its current listing status no longer provides a viable financing channel for the bank's operations.

In 2024, SHENGJINGBANK achieved operating revenue of RMB 8.577 billion, down 14.57% year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 621 million, down 15.21% year-over-year. By the end of 2024, total assets stood at RMB 1.12 trillion.

The Northeast region once had four major listed banks: SHENGJINGBANK, HARBIN BANK, Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank, and Jinzhou Bank.

Jinzhou Bank was established in January 1997 and listed in Hong Kong in December 2015. In April 2019, Jinzhou Bank's crisis erupted, exposing the true extent of its non-performing loans. The bank posted losses of RMB 4.538 billion in 2018 and RMB 1.125 billion in 2019.

In April 2024, Jinzhou Bank delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank's predecessor was Jiutai Rural Credit Cooperative Union, which successfully listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2017. On July 3 this year, the bank issued a profit warning announcement stating that based on currently available information to the board of directors, the group expects a net loss of between RMB 1.7 billion and RMB 1.9 billion for the year ending December 31, 2024.

In July this year, Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank announced that Jilin Financial Holdings made a voluntary conditional comprehensive cash offer to acquire all issued H shares, with an H-share offer price of HK$0.7 per share and a domestic share offer price of RMB 0.63 per share. Upon completion of the acquisition, Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank will apply for delisting from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Now with SHENGJINGBANK's delisting, only HARBIN BANK remains among the four listed banks in Northeast China. In 2024, HARBIN BANK achieved operating revenue of RMB 14.243 billion, up 7.56%, and net profit of RMB 1.082 billion, up 21.88%.

Whether it's Jinzhou Bank, Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank, or SHENGJINGBANK, their delisting schemes are essentially identical: local state-owned enterprises acquire the banks and then delist them from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

HARBIN BANK currently trades at HK$0.45 per share with a total market capitalization of nearly HK$5 billion, but its stock price has also long failed to gain market recognition.