XD Electric float hopes to generate 10.27b yuan

China XD Electric Co, the country's largest maker of electricity transmission and distribution equipment, plans to raise as much as 10.27 billion yuan in the first major initial public offering (IPO) this year.

XD Electric, which hopes to sell up to 1.3 billion shares in its Shanghai IPO, said it had fixed the price range for the share offer at 7.1 to 7.9 yuan. That differs from the 7.4 yuan-9.6 yuan range forecast by its underwriter, China International Capital Corp (CICC).

In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday, the company said the pricing would give XD Electric a maximum price-earnings ratio of 34 times its 2008 net profit per share.