China's Ping An says no plan for equity issue

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Ping An Insurance (601318.SS) (2318.HK) has no plan to go ahead with a multi-billion dollar equity issue after a self-imposed six-month moratorium on the issue expired, a company spokesman said.

China's second-biggest life insurer obtained shareholder approval on March 5 for a huge offer of local currency A shares and convertible bonds that could have raised some $17 billion. But after its share price and the overall stock market plunged in response to the plan, Ping An declared on May 8 that it would not proceed with the issue for at least six months.

The official Shanghai Securities News on Tuesday quoted a Ping An spokesman as saying that after the expiry of the period, the company still had no plan to proceed with the issue and no timetable for doing so.

Any issue would require approval by China's securities regulator, which has said it will limit sales of new shares in an effort to support the weak stock market.

The newspaper noted that if Ping An did not obtain regulatory approval for its issue by next March 5, shareholders' permission would expire and the company would be forced to conduct the entire approval process again if it wanted to sell shares.

Ping An originally said it needed to raise money for investment at home and abroad. But China's economy has slowed considerably in recent months while the global financial turmoil has made overseas investment less attractive; in October, Ping An scrapped a $3 billion deal to buy half of the asset management arm of European financial group Fortis FOR.AS.

($1 = 6.82 yuan)

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Ken Wills)