(Yicai Global) July 19 -- Shares of state-owned China Telecom rose to their highest in more than 21 months in Hong Kong as the nation’s biggest mobile phone carrier moved a step closer to listing in Shanghai after China’s securities regulator said it will assess the application this week.

China Telecom [HKG:0728] gained as much as 7.4 percent to HKD3.20 (41 US cents) today, the most since Sept. 30, 2019. The stock, which debuted in Hong Kong in late 2002, ended 6.7 percent up at HKD3.18, the highest closing price since Oct. 28, 2019.

The Beijing-based company announced on March 17 that it would seek to raise about CNY54.4 billion (USD8.4 billion) through a secondary listing on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-like Star Market. The China Securities Regulatory Commission will review the filing on July 22, the watchdog said in a statement on July 16.

In January, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it would delist China’s big three state telecos -- China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom -- after the Trump administration barred American investment in Chinese firms considered a threat to national security. Their appeals against being removed from the bourse failed.

China Telecom intends to issue 12.2 billion shares in Shanghai, or less than 13 percent of its outstanding stock, before the greenshoe option is exercised. The proceeds will be used to invest in fifth-generation industrial internet projects, converged infrastructures including Tianyi Cloud and data centers, as well as research and development, according to the filing.
For the six months ended June 30, China Telecom’s net profit should be in the range of CNY17.6 billion to CNY17.9 billion (USD2.7 billion to USD2.8 billion), up 26 percent

to 28 percent from a year earlier, according to its July 14 updated prospectus. Revenue was probably CNY213.6 billion to CNY218.4 billion (USD33 billion and USD33.7 billion), a gain of 11 percent to 13.5 percent.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Futura Costaglione