Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank bids farewell to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
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After major state-owned banks “took in” branches, the reform of Jilin Rural Credit Institutions has once again made new progress.
On November 24, Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank announced its official delisting after the market closed, bidding farewell to its nearly nine-year stint in the Hong Kong stock market and becoming the first rural commercial bank to delist from Hong Kong.
Over half a year before delisting, the bank had suspended trading as of March 12, with its share price frozen at HK$0.41 per share.
In 2023, Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank was under performance pressure, with both revenue and net profits declining; profits fell by more than 90%.
So far, the bank has not disclosed its interim results for 2024 or 2025, only revealing through forecasts that it incurred losses in both reporting periods, at 1.7-1.9 billion yuan and 898 million yuan respectively.
Summing up statements from Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank, there are two main reasons for delisting:
First, due to sluggish stock prices, its financing function has basically been lost.
As of the suspension date, the Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng Mainland Bank Index had risen by 21.19% and 14.59% respectively for the year, while the bank’s stock price fell by 6.82%, with daily trading volume accounting for only 0.13% of total issued H shares.
Second, to save operating costs and leave room for development.
The bank indicated that delisting would save compliance and related costs, allowing resources to be reallocated to business operations and making room for adjustments.
Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank’s new parent company is Jilin Financial Holdings, controlled by the provincial Department of Finance, which currently holds stakes in Jilin Bank, Jilin Rural Commercial Bank, Jilin Trust, and other local financial institutions.
In early July this year, Jilin Financial Holdings issued a full cash offer for Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank’s H shares, with acquisition prices of HK$0.70 per H share and RMB 0.63 per domestic share—about a 70% premium to its price at suspension.
Three months later, the Jilin Regulatory Bureau approved a change in Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank’s shareholding, with Jilin Financial Holdings’ stake reaching 75.22%.
Due to Jilin Financial Holdings' core role in local rural credit reform, the industry generally sees Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank’s delisting as a key step in reforming the Jilin Rural Credit System.
In July, Jilin Provincial Department of Finance issued RMB 26 billion in special bonds for small and medium-sized banks, which, through indirect equity holdings by Jilin Financial Holdings, were all used for capital replenishment of Jilin Rural Commercial Bank.
A month later, Jilin Rural Commercial Bank, which absorbed the first batch of 13 institutions including Changchun Rural Commercial Bank, opened for business.
Xinfeng’s comparison shows that, in the new round of rural credit institution reforms, Hainan and Liaoning, which adopted a unified legal entity model earlier, now have only two local rural commercial banks each, while Jilin still has as many as 39 rural commercial banks.
Jilin Rural Commercial Bank disclosed that the company will “gradually absorb and merge other rural commercial banks and local village banks initiated by the company, eventually realizing a unified legal entity for the whole province.”
This could mean that delisting is not the end for Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank, and the bank may be merged into Jilin Rural Commercial Bank in the future.
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