S&P: Bank of China unchanged

Standard & Poor's said its ratings on Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd. (BOCHK, BBB+/stable/A-2) and Bank of China Group Insurance Co. Ltd. (BBB(pi)) would not be affected by the proposed acquisition of a 51% equity interest in BOC Group Life Assurance Co. Ltd. (BOC Life) from BOCG Insurance by BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd.

S&P noted that the HK$900 million purchase price is about 1.8 times the net book value of BOC Life as at the end of 2005.

The transaction and the amount of goodwill involved are not expected to have a significant impact on either the capitalization or double leverage ratio of BOC Hong Kong, which has common shareholders' equity of HK$58.8 billion, the agency added, noting that there will be no significant immediate financial impact on BOCHK either.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.