Interfax China reported that China Minmetals Corporation plans to restructure its listed arm in a bid to insulate the unit from market uncertainties.

A board representative said that Shanghai Stock Exchange listed Minmetals Development Company Limited will sell stakes in three Minmetals units to sister firm Minmetals Mining Holdings Company Limited for a total consideration of CNY 951.40 million.

The assets include full ownership of Minmetals Mining Company Limited and Minmetals Engineering Company Limited as well as 45% share in Datong Tongmei Minmetals Coal Preparation Company Limited. The remaining 55% stake in Tongmei will stay in the hands of leading state owned coal miner Datong Coal Mine Group Company Limited.

The representative said that market uncertainties have cast a shadow over the outlook of the three businesses and the sell off will help keep the listed Minmetals Development on an even keel.

Minmetals Mining and Tongmei were both in the red last year racking up respective losses of CNY 2.65 million and CNY 11.24 million while Minmetals Engineering saw profits of CNY 12.75 million.

Moreover, Minmetals Development stands to profit from the sell off under current market conditions and the three firms are not part of its core business, accounting for only a small percentage of total revenue. The sales are unlikely to have a huge impact on Minmetals Development's financial results this year.

The representative said that the restructuring coincides with the release of favorable Q3 results for the listed unit that show profits of CNY 240.19 million for the period, a recovery from losses of CNY 683,097 the same time last year. Meanwhile, revenue rose 46.58% YoY to CNY 48.85 billion.

(Sourced from Interfax China)