China Gas Holdings Limited (China Gas; HKG: 384), a leading natural gas operator in China, repurchased a total of 84 million ordinary shares (about 1.5% of total existing issued shares of China Gas) since May 2021, according to the disclosures filed with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The multiple share repurchases by China Gas show the strong confidence of the management in the Company’s future development and growth potential.
In addition, according to the disclosure filed by Beijing Enterprise Holdings Limited (BEH), the single largest shareholder of the Company, it acquired an aggregate of 32,000,000 shares of China Gas on 20 October 2021, 27 October 2021 and 28 October 2021 respectively. The increase in shareholding represents another strong vote of confidence of BEH in China Gas’ underlying business and long-term growth potential.
BEH holds 22.81% of the total issued shares of China Gas as at 28 October 2021.
In recent months, China Gas signed a number of strategic agreements with industry leaders to expand its business portfolio, particularly in areas of green and alternative energy. These included:
— March 2021: A strategic cooperation framework agreement signed with China Petrochemical Corporation to leverage each other’s advantages in resources and downstream market to cooperate in areas including natural gas procurement, liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) receiving terminal utilization, downstream gas projects, oil and gas (natural gas and hydrogen) stations/recharging poles, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business.
— April 2021: a strategic cooperation framework agreement signed with CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co., Limited, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, to jointly develop the application of hydrogen as an energy source, an area fast gaining worldwide attention in recent years.
— June 2021: a strategic cooperation agreement signed with LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (“LONGi Group”), a world-leading photovoltaic company listed in the China A-shares market, to promote the development of leading-edge photovoltaic applications, green hydrogen, and other new energy projects across China.
China Gas’ commitment to ESG and the national policy of “carbon peak, carbon neutrality” has been well recognized. In June 2021, China Gas was honored to be the first and only company in Hong Kong and Mainland China to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on methane emission reduction with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was invited to join the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0. This marked a great encouragement to China Gas and the Company will be working closely with UNEP to enhance awareness of methane emission reduction, raise relevant safety technology levels in Mainland China and contribute to climate mitigation.