China Communications Construction
Co., the country’s biggest port builder, delayed plans to raise
as much as $3 billion in a Shanghai share sale amid weakness in
the stock market, said Chairman Zhou Jichang.

“Our original plan was to get listed in July or August
this year, but now it is not the best time to issue new
shares,” Zhou said in an interview yesterday in Shanghai.
“Still, I hope we can get listed this year.”

The company, whose unit is helping build a new span of the
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, expects to double profit by
2015 from last year’s 9.9 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), Zhou
said. Revenue will rise to 430 billion yuan by 2015, from 273
billion in 2010, he said.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite is down more than 8
percent from its 2011 high in mid-April amid expectations that
inflation and a slowdown in the Chinese economy would hinder
profit growth. China stocks were cut to “underweight” from
“neutral” by analysts at JPMorgan Chase Co., which said in a
report today that recent speculation that Chinese policy makers
are ending their efforts to fight inflation is “premature.”

China Communications, which is already listed in Hong Kong,
said in a December statement it would issue up to 3.5 billion
new shares in Shanghai. Based on the stock’s closing price in
Hong Kong yesterday, the sale may raise $3 billion.

Arrangers Hired

The Beijing-based company in April hired BOC International
Holdings Ltd., Citic Securities Co., Guotai Junan Securities
Co., Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities Co. and Zhong De Securities
Co. to manage the deal, Zhou said.

The company plans to use the proceeds to buy the nearly 39
percent of CRBC International Co. it doesn’t already own as well
as to boost working capital and buy equipment, according to the
December statement.

Zhou said China Communications Construction aims to expand
to South America and Eastern Europe. It now has projects in
Africa and Middle East. The company controls Shanghai Zhenhua
Heavy Industry Co Ltd. which is building steel modules for the
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The company could win 650 billion yuan in new orders in
2015, up from 411 billion yuan in 2010, as it benefits from
government spending on roads, railways and other infrastructure,
Zhou said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jasmine Wang in Hong Kong at
jwang513@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Neil Denslow at
ndenslow@bloomberg.net