HONG KONG: Lenovo, the world's No 4 PC brand, says it plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange when rules permit, opening a window of opportunity for the firm in one of the world's best performing stock markets.

The move would make sense for Hong Kong-listed Lenovo, since it developed on the mainland and is one of the country's best-known brands, with about a third of the market.

"I obviously would wish to list (on the mainland) yesterday," Wong Wai Ming, Lenovo's chief financial officer, said at the Reuters China Investment Summit.

"Knowing Lenovo's market share in China, it makes a lot of sense and we would follow that issue very closely. We need to look at what the rules are, and what are the possible impacts on our operations," Wong added.

Lenovo cannot list on the mainland in its current form, as Beijing forbids overseas-headquartered companies from listing on the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges.

The PC maker's headquarters is in North Carolina in the United States, having moved there in 2006 after completing its purchase of IBM's laptop arm.

But Beijing is in the process of changing the rules to allow foreign-headquartered companies to list on the mainland, prompting a flood of overseas-headquartered companies that do major business in the market to say they would seek such a listing.

Separately, Wong said he expects Lenovo's operations in mature markets such as Western Europe and the United States to return to profitability by March 2010, as tech demand there picks up with the easing of the global downturn.

"There is no reason for me to believe that we cannot return to a profit in mature markets by the end of the financial year," Wong said, in a reference to Lenovo's financial year that runs through March 31. "We're working towards that, and are keeping in mind our other group objectives as well," he added.

China Daily - Agencies

(HK Edition 09/02/2009 page4)