Airport firm seeks revival through IPO

Liaoning Province Airport Management Group said it plans an initial public offering in Hong Kong in the first half of 2005 to raise over US$75 million to restructure three of the four airports it owns in province. The three currently run at a loss. Vice-general manager Ma Huixian said that, because it already was structured as a joint stock company, Taoxian Airport, the one airport that makes money, would not be bundled into the listing vehicle. A Liaoning official said China's 131 CAAC-managed airports used to accumulate looses of RMB 4 billion. Although the Civil Aviation Administration of China no longer administers local airports, the central government still has to pay in subsidies of up to RMB 3 billion a year.