Jiangxi Copper (358, JCC) announced to issue 290mn A shares to raise RMB4.0bn. Half of the proceeds will be used to increase production capacity of existing copper mines through expansion and technology renovation. JCC will also use RMB1,785mn to acquire parent’s six assets. The largest one will be Chengmenshan Copper Mine with a consideration of RMB1,442mn. Net profit of the copper mine for 1H06 was RMB96.7mn, represented 5% of JCC’s earnings. Chengmenshan Copper Mine possesses 1.53mn tonnes of copper reserves that should boost copper reserve of JCC by 19% to 9.49mn tonnes in the long run. We upgrade JCC from hold to BUY because : 1) the asset injection will enhance EPS growth ; 2) copper future price has rebounded 25% from the trough of US$2.425/lb in early February; 3) year-to-date average copper price was only 7% below 2006’s average, versus market consensus for a 10% drop in 2007. Our target price of $10.0 implies valuation at 6.8x 2007 PER.
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