Product category:
General insurance
News Release from: Fidelity International | Subject: Investment
Edited by the Insidemoneytalk Editorial
Team on 16 November 2007
China now boasts top ten companies in
six sectors
Biggest oils group, bank and mobile phone company now Chinese.
Concerns about valuations in short-term, but opportunities for long-term investors remain, says Fidelity International China now boasts at least one top-ten company by market valuation in six industrial sectors, according to an analysis of MSCI data by Fidelity International, the investment management group.Despite representing just 3.3% of world equities, Chinese companies quoted on mainland markets rank at the top or close to the top of valuation tables in mobile phones, banks, life insurance, real estate, oil and gas producers and forestry and paper
This article was originally published on Insidemoneytalk on 15 Feb 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Fidelity International 2007 Global Credit Outlook: "Calm conditions with showers on the horizon"
The global credit market remains strong in 2007, with good corporate fundamentals, but bond investors will need quality research to generate returns and steel themselves for future storms.
Bond investors should be thinking global for their returns, says Fidelity International
"Moribund" growth in sterling corporate bond market means limited investment opportunities
When the MSCI updates its indices at the end of the month, PetroChina will be shown to have become the largest listed company in the world having risen from 20th to first place in the last few days following a limited public offering.
As well as now being home to the world's largest company the People's Republic also claims the world's most valuable bank (China Construction Bank) and the biggest mobile phone company (China Mobile) on the planet.
At the turn of the century, just two Chinese companies ranked in the top ten of their sector: China Mobile and Citic Pacific, the industrials group.
Further reading
David Dalton-Brown, Head of Fidelity FundsNetwork said of the IMA's new Investment Fund Statistics
"Just as industry year on year gross ISA sales have increased, FundsNetwork had another good year with sales up by a third on last year.
Global property securities market set to grow by almost 70% by 2011
German and Japanese property markets offer best investment opportunities, says Fidelity International
Sanjeev Shah appointed as the next manager of the Fidelity Special Situations Fund
Anthony Bolton to take on a new full-time role, working on investment and product strategy, as well as acting as a mentor to fund managers and analysts
Since then, there has been a wave of public flotations, with no fewer than 114 Chinese IPOs so far in 2007 alone with a further 80 in Hong Kong.
Chinese listings have already accounted for five of the top 20 fund raisings this year.Extend the analysis to the top 20 ranking companies and China features in four more sectors: mining, industrial transportation, construction and materials and general industrials.
In fact, of the 88 Chinese companies in the 2,690 corporations that make up the MSCI World Index including China and Emerging Markets, 16 are ranked in the top 20 of their sectors.
Valuation concerns?.
Valuations of some Chinese companies look stretched compared with their peer group.
China Mobile, which at $406 billion has a market capitalisation twice that of its nearest rival Vodafone, has a forward price earnings ratio for 2008 of 25.6 times.
Vodafone stock is forecast to trade on 15.8 times.Similarly, China Construction Bank at $250 billion has leapt over HSBC, Bank of America and Citigroup to become the world's largest bank.
Its shares have a forward price earnings ratio for 2008 of 18.6 times, compared with 11.1 for HSBC, 9.4 for Bank of America and just 8.1 for Citigroup.
Martha Wang, Manager of the Fidelity China Focus Fund says: "The valuations of certain Chinese companies are out of line with their Western competitors, occasionally because partial listings have created an imbalance between supply and demand.
At times like these, stock-picking assumes an even greater importance."Over the longer term, however, we believe China will continue to offer some very attractive opportunities to investors.
At just 3.3% of world equities, China has a long way to go before its economic might is represented fully in the stock markets."Ms Wang added that while the annual growth rates of 30-40% in investment in fixed assets had been exceptional over the past few years, they would remain strong.
The Chinese Government was also encouraging a shift away from labour intensive to value-added products and from high energy-intensity industries to those led by technology.
Fidelity International Limited ("FIL") and its subsidiary companies serve the major markets of the world by providing investment products and services to individuals and institutional investors outside the US.
The FIL Organisation manages a total of £148 billion of assets.
Methodology: Data analysed using MSCI World Index including China and Emerging Markets as at 31.10.07 in US Dollar terms (MSCI data updated each month end), sorting by sector and ranking then by market value to produce top 20 companies by market value for each sector.
PE ratios have been calculated using rolling data from Datastream, the forward PE figures for 2008 in the table above are as at 6/11/07.
• Fidelity International: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Insidemoneytalk Home Page
