Additional stake in FTD
Published: 06/01/2006, 07:00
China Shoto plc 06 January 2006 Press Release 6 January 2006 China Shoto plc ("China Shoto" or "the Company") Purchase of additional stake in Beijing Full Three Dimension Power Engineering Co., Ltd. ("FTD") China Shoto plc (AIM:CHNS), a leading Chinese producer of industrial batteries and power supply systems, today announces that the Company, as stated in its AIM Admission document, has increased its stake in the Beijing Full Three Dimension Power Engineering Co., Ltd. ("FTD") from 30% to 51% for a cash consideration of £260,000. China Shoto now holds a controlling stake in FTD. In this transaction Jiangsu Shuangdeng Power Supply Co., Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Shoto plc, purchased the 21% stake in FTD from China Investment Corporation for Science & Technology, China Academy of Sciences, following approval by the state-owned assets administration authority. The transaction was performed on the China Beijing Equity Exchange (CBEX). The original 30% stake is held by Glory Trinity Engineering Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Shoto plc. Incorporated in 1995, FTD is a leading turbine design and refurbishment service provider based in Beijing. Historically, FTD has concentrated on the redesign and reconstruction of older turbines to improve their efficiency and reduce their emissions and has to date reconstructed over 100 such turbines. FTD has approximately a 70% share of the Chinese domestic turbine refurbishment market and is also engaged in blade design. FTD has utilised its turbine expertise to develop its own 150MW turbine. This competes with 135MW turbines and is cheaper to install and operate. Demand for electricity in China continues to rise and in the last five years has increased by an average of over 7% per annum. The Chinese Government is committed to increasing power generation capacity and reducing emissions. Cao Guifa, Executive Chairman of China Shoto plc, said: "We believe that the utilisation of FTD's technology can make a substantial contribution to the achievement of the Chinese Government's stated objectives. Firstly by refurbishing existing turbines to increase their efficiency and electricity output whilst cutting their emissions and coal consumption, and secondly, by building new turbines utilising FTD's patented technology. It is our intention to see FTD generate revenues in both these areas of activity going forward." In 2005 FTD entered into an agreement with the Shanghai Turbine Company to manufacture five turbine units, three of which have been delivered and are already in operation. China Shoto listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2005. - Ends - For further information: China Shoto plc Cao Guifa, Executive Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 www.chinashoto.com Seymour Pierce Limited John Depasquale Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000 jdp@seymourpierce.com www.seymourpierce.com Media enquiries: Abchurch Henry Harrison-Topham / Katherine Murphy Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 henry.ht@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange