(Yicai Global) April 17 -- Weihai City Commercial Bank has filed to go public in Hong Kong after four years since its earlier attempt in Shanghai as the eastern Chinese lender's coffers are starting to seem like they could use some replenishing.

The Shandong province-based smallish lender did not disclose how much it wants to raise or other details about the upcoming initial public offering in its prospectus that the Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and Clearing published on April 15.

On April 8, the provincial unit of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission approved the lender's application to go public to boost its capital. Usually, it takes anything from a few months to a year to graduate from a prospectus to an IPO in Hong Kong.

The bank tried to issue shares in Shanghai in April 2016 but withdrew its application in August 2018, eyeing other ways to replenish its funds after waiting for more than two years.

But the financial pressures have not disappeared. Although the commercial bank issued bonds last year, its core tier 1 capital adequacy ratio fell by 0.63 percentage points to 9.76 percent by the year-end.

The lender's net profit rose by half to CNY1.5 billion (USD211.9 million) last year from a year earlier, according to the prospectus. Its non-performing loan ratio narrowed by 0.02 percentage point to 1.8 percent by the end of 2019. Its total assets widened by 10 percent to CNY244.6 billion (USD34.5 billion).

Founded in 1997, Weihai City Commercial Bank has nearly 120 branches.

Editor: Emmi Laine