HKEx to issue new shares soon

It could raise around HKD10b.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, 3Q12 results slightly better than consensus. HKEx’s 3Q12 net profit was HKD1.0b, down 6% QoQ, slightly better than market consensus. 9M12 net proit was HKD3.2b, down 16% YoY, and reached 74% of our old FY12 profit estimates.

Here's more from Maybank Kim Eng:

We expect HKEx to issue new shares soon. We expect the LME deal to be completed by the end of the year. We also expect HKEx to fully use up its current made and issue new shares to raise around HKD10b, in order to finance the LME deal.

Note that HKEx could only issue 84m new shares (instead of the 108m stated in the last report), as it has to “reserve” 24m shares for potential CB conversion.