Financial Services Association, November 25 (Reporter Zou Juntao) After three months, China Life Insurance completed this round of reducing its holdings in the Bank of Hangzhou.

On the evening of November 25, the Bank of Hangzhou issued an announcement. The company received the “Notice Letter on the Implementation Status of the Bank of Hangzhou Share Reduction Plan” from China Life Insurance. As of November 25, 2024, China Life reduced its holdings by 59,302,800 shares through centralized bidding, accounting for 1.00% of the company's total share capital before implementing the current shareholding reduction plan.

According to the announcement, China Life Insurance's current round of reducing its holdings in the Bank of Hangzhou involved about 0.77 billion yuan in capital.

A Financial Services Association reporter noticed that according to the original plan, China Life Insurance expects to reduce its holdings in the Bank of Hangzhou by no more than 1.86%. Tonight's announcement shows that after implementing this round of holdings reduction, China Life still holds 0.85% of the Bank of Hangzhou's shares (affected by the increase in Bank of Hangzhou's common share capital due to convertible debt-to-equity swaps). Bank of Hangzhou did not disclose in tonight's announcement whether China Life Insurance will continue to reduce its holdings in the future.

Furthermore, the Financial Services Association reporter noticed that although bank stocks were sought after by the market due to high dividends, many listed banks still had their shareholders' holdings reduced during the year.

The original plan was to “clear the inventory” and eventually retain 0.85% of the shares

On August 21, 2024, the Bank of Hangzhou disclosed the “Notice on the Plan to Reduce Shareholders' Shareholdings by 5% or less of Bank of Hangzhou Co., Ltd.” China Life plans to reduce its holdings of the company's shares through centralized bidding or bulk transactions within three months from the date of the announcement of the reduction plan, totaling no more than 110,092,230 shares (including capital), that is, no more than 1.86% of the company's total common share capital;

Among them, where holdings are reduced through centralized bidding, the total number of shares reduced within 90 consecutive days does not exceed 59,302,800 shares (that is, no more than 1% of the company's total common share capital); where holdings are reduced through bulk transactions, the total number of shares reduced within 90 consecutive days does not exceed 110,092,230 shares. Prior to the implementation of this reduction plan, China Life held 110,092,230 shares of the company, accounting for 1.86% of the company's total common share capital.

This evening, the Bank of Hangzhou issued an announcement stating that China Life Insurance reduced its holdings of 59,302,800 shares through centralized bidding between August 27, 2024 and November 25, 2024, accounting for 1.00% of the company's total common share capital before implementing this holdings reduction plan. The total amount of holdings reduced during the period was 769,771,457.24 yuan.

According to the announcement, China Life Insurance's current round of holdings reduction has already been implemented. As of the close of trading on November 25, 2024, China Life held 50,789,430 shares of Bank of Hangzhou, accounting for 0.85% of the Bank of Hangzhou's current total common share capital.

A number of listed banks had their holdings reduced by shareholders or directors during the year

A Financial Services Association reporter noticed that in addition to the Bank of Hangzhou being reduced by China Life Insurance, other listed banks also had their holdings reduced by shareholders or directors during the year.

On October 23, Qilu Bank issued an announcement. As of October 22, 2024, Chongqing Huayu has implemented and completed this holdings reduction plan. A total of 63,698,900 shares have been reduced through centralized bidding and bulk transactions, accounting for 1.32% of the company's total share capital. After this reduction in holdings, Chongqing Huayu held 194,438,142 shares of the company, accounting for 4.02% of the company's total share capital.

On October 16, the Bank of Ningbo issued an announcement and received the “Notice Letter on the Bank of Ningbo Co., Ltd. share reduction plan” from Li Hao, an independent director of the company. It is proposed to reduce its holdings by no more than 41,250 shares from November 7, 2024 to February 6, 2025, accounting for 0.0006% of the company's total share capital.

Regarding the reason for the reduction in holdings, the Bank of Hangzhou disclosed that China Life Insurance needed to allocate assets; Qilu Bank disclosed that it was shareholder Chongqing Huayu's own development needs; and the Bank of Ningbo disclosed that it was Li Hao's personal capital requirements.

However, as far as insurance capital as a whole is concerned, the banking sector still receives “key attention” from insurance capital. The latest three-quarter report shows that among the top ten major insurance stocks, bank stocks occupy an absolute dominant position, including Minsheng Bank, SPD Bank, and Huaxia Bank. According to the Guangdong Open Securities Research Report, bank stocks have become the target of low-risk capital groups such as insurance capital. In addition to the basic characteristic of high dividends, it is also because of their lower level of price fluctuation and more stable performance and dividends.