OREANDA-NEWS. April 15, 2011. Beginning from 2010, ICBC has made another inroad on investment banking business by improving the services and enhancing the ability to grow profitability at the same time. The Bank enacted a business development model involving all branches in China and overseas to push for service innovation and business re-orientation. As of end of 2010, ICBC has scored nearly 30,000 investment banking customers and registered a 23.7% year-on-year rise in revenue to RMB 15.506 billion. This is also the ninth year that ICBC generating fast growth on the business at an annual average compound growth rate of 73%. The good result in investment banking business not only lets ICBC hold a strong lead over its peers, but one of major income sources of ICBC's intermediary business as well, reported the press-centre of ICBC.

Worthy of note is that, in 2010, ICBC investment banking business overseas also witnesses a fast growth, rising 118% over the previous year to RMB 1.095 billion in revenue. More important, ICBC established its branch in the international scene through the successful participation in several investment banking projects with global influence. This brings huge prospect for ICBC to move forward.

In 2010, on top of the basic banking services (long-term financial advisory, corporate information service, investment and financing advisory), ICBC embarked on business development and innovation program across the full spectrum of investment banking areas (M&A and restructuring, equity financing, corporate bond, syndication arrangement), as related by an executive with ICBC. When compared to the same period last year, income from these high value-added, branded investment banking businesses account for 2 percentage points higher in revenue generated from investment banking business in all branches. Business structure was much improved.

In 2010, ICBC concluded tens of key merger and acquisition projects and posted an income rise of 95% to RMB 470 million for its investment banking business. In equity financing, ICBC launched the innovative service for equity investment funds. Under the service, ICBC acted as administrating bank to assist equity investment funds to raise nearly RMB 10 billion, bringing 612% increase in year-on-year revenue from consultancy and advisory services. In syndication loan business, balance at the end of 2010 was RMB 378.3 billion which occupied significantly higher percentage of all new loans released in the year. In 2010, ICBC remained the bank to beat by underwriting debt instruments to a total of RMB 207 billion. Meanwhile, ICBC shifted its practices lending to investment banking customers in various industries even more in the favor of emerging industries, advanced manufacturing sector, modern service industry, companies that engage in new energy.

In the last few years, ICBC run many big projects with highly technical, large market influence by the joint efforts of overseas and domestic branches. Good experience has been gained on the international capital market operation, as well as establishing its own brand of investment banking business. Rounding out many influential projects of ICBC, they were: Wuhan Iron & Steel Group's project on the acquisition of iron mine in Madagascar, the restructuring project of Shanxi coal mine industry (New-North Group, Hongsheng Energy), successful bid for the export buyer's credit syndication tender of USD 825 million project for Botswana's Morupule B Coal-Fired Power Station and the structured trade finance syndication of USD 1.2 billion for Ghana Cocoa Board; appointed as the financial advisory body on the Vietnam's Mong Duong Thermo-power Plant project invested by AES Group, the USD 2.5 billion loan faculty to the Angolan Ministry of Finance and account custody service for Turkish Silopi Power Company's USD 220 million export buyer's credit.

ICBC International, the wholly-owned investment banking arm of ICBC, in less than two years since its opening to business in May 2009 has successfully participated in numerous super-scale capital market financing projects: Brazilian Petrobras's new shares offering, AIA IPO, General Motors IPO, Brazil Vale's HDR offering. In investment banking, ICBC is standing abreast with top global peers, showing its competitive strength of investment banking services to serve top-tier customers in the global capital market.

An ICBC executive said, in line with the improved capital operation ability and growing global presence, more and more Chinese enterprises also look for integrated financial services from Chinese banks, in corporate wealth management, bond issuance and underwriting, M&A and restructuring, structural finance. The market potential of investment banking business is huge. Western counterparts had their banks to assist them marching to the world and growing into multinational conglomerates. Investment banking services are their bridges to the world. Back in China, Chinese enterprises are gathering their pace to "go global". Their imminent need is the professional investment banking services provided by Chinese financial institutions for them on their overseas direct investments and asset management. To ICBC, the launch of investment banking service extends the service range to the customers by a substantial margin, a key option to increase ICBC profitability and core competence. At present, ICBC's extensive global network and solid customer base offer rich resources and huge market potential for domestic and overseas branches to work together in investment banking service. Looking ahead, ICBC will fully capitalize all the resources in commercial banking and investment banking to better meet the new service demand from the customers, through a range of comprehensive financial services.