TCL Corp, the parent company of listed handset maker TCL Communication Equipment Co Ltd, said yesterday its plan to launch an initial public offering has already been approved by the government regulator.

"The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved our IPO plan," said a marketing executive with TCL Corp, who requested not to be named.

She declined to reveal the details of the IPO and the timetable. But International Finance News reported yesterday that TCL will raise 2.0 billion yuan (US$247 million) through the IPO.

"Tcl's profit margin has been dropping, and the group is looking for other profit engines," said Sun Weijia, an analyst at Analysys Consulting Co Ltd. "It takes a lot of money to start other high-tech business."

Sun said TCL will probably start making laptops and digital TV sets next year.

Tcl corp announced in a statement on September 30 that it would list the conglomerate that manufactures color TV sets, mobile phones and computer on the Shenzhen bourse to take over TCL Communication Equipment Co Ltd, its Shenzhen-listed subsidiary that manufactures handsets under the TCL brandname.

Tcl corp now holds a 31.7 percent stake in the listed handset maker, which occupies 11.64 percent of the domestic mobile phone market after Ningbo Bird Co Ltd and Motorola Inc.

The listing of TCL Corp will put under the listing vehicle its electric appliances and computer manufacturing units, which now make up more than half of its revenues.

Shareholders of TCL Communication Equipment will be able to swap their stocks into new shares in TCL Corp.

Each share in the listed mobile phone manufacturer will be converted to a certain amount of the shares in its parent at a price of 21.15 yuan (US$2.55) each, nearly a 15 percent premium over the average trading price of TCL Communication Equipment shares over the last 30 trading days.

It is still not clear how many shares in its parent company each share in TCL Communication Equipment can be swapped into, as the offer price of the IPO shares in TCL Corp is still not disclosed to the public.

Tcl corp earned 280 million yuan for the first six months of the year, equivalent to 66 percent of its annual net profit last year.

Tcl communication Equipment is the most profitable unit of TCL Corp and accounts for 37.7 percent of the revenues of its parent.

The handset maker's first-half net profit reached 145.18 million yuan, or 0.77 yuan per share, 28.2 percent higher than the year-ago level. The company posted revenues of 5.26 billion yuan during this period, 51.2 per-cent higher than a year ago.

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