GUANGZHOU: The parent firm of Hong Kong-listed Denway Motors - Guangzhou Automobile Group Co (GAGC) - confirmed yesterday that it will publicly list the company as a whole this year.

Specific details of the listing weren't given.

"It's not the right time" to confirm recent media reports that the firm is eyeing a dual listing on the mainland and in Hong Kong, a spokesman from the auto maker surnamed Chen told China Daily.

"So far," he said, "we don't have a detailed timetable or a listing place. The only thing we can confirm is that the listing plan will be finished this year," Chen said.

The company's general manager, Zeng Qinghong, is currently in Beijing for the ongoing National People's Congress. Zeng told reporters last week that the company's listing application is under an approval procedure by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Insiders suspect that GAGC may choose Hong Kong for its initial listing, given that its subsidiary company - Dengway Motors - has performed well in the Hong Kong stock market, with its market value reaching HK$30 billion.

Zeng confirmed that the company has already prepared different listing plans, which also helped fuel speculation of its expected listing in Hong Kong.

According to earlier media reports, the company has teamed up with domestic and international financial organizations, including China International Capital Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Morgan Stanley, for its initial public offering (IPO) plan.

GAGC, one of the mainland's top-10 automakers, will invest about 6.8 billion yuan to build a research-and-development (R&D) center this year, Zeng said.

"We plan to launch self-innovated cars by 2010," Zeng said. "They will account for a quarter of our total output in the long term."

The mainland and Hong Kong IPOs will help cover the cost of the company's R&D investment.

The company's booked 103 billion yuan in sales revenue last year and expects to raise that total by 10 percent this year, according to figures on the firm's website.

(HK Edition 03/12/2008 page3)