11.3% of Fosun revenues from Portugal

Portugal was responsible for 11.3% of Chinese company Fosun’s revenues in the first half of 2023.

Yet the conglomerate’s financial problems has seen it sell off a clutch of non-core ‘heavy’ assets to write down its debt. Could its 30% share in Portuguese bank BCP be up for sale?
Fosun, which is led by Kuo Guangchang, has shares in bank BCP, insurer Fidelidade, electrical network distribution infrastructure company REN and private healthcare provider Luz Saúde.
In H1, the Chinese conglomerate made a turnover of €1.38Bn from its Portuguese assets, up on the €1.18Bn posted in H1 2022.
Total revenues grew just over 10%, although the company as a whole saw its net results plummet by a half, to approximately €170 million.
Fosun sold off various assets worth €2.5Bn worldwide of a total projected assets selloff of €10Bn. “We will continue to divest heavy assets”, said the chairman Guo Guangchang during a conference call with analysts on Thursday.
However, he did not say if any divestments would involve the Portuguese market, such as offloading its share in the bank BCP which could be considered a heavy asset by Fosun.
A heavy asset refers to capital intensive investments in a company that tend to yield lower returns and liquidity.
Instead he said, “It is time for us to focus on our core business and have courage” he said in the presentation which made no mention of Portugal’s largest private high street bank BCP in which it has a 30% share.
Fosun has repeatedly stated that its 30% stake in the bank was not up for grabs after the Chinese company has been selling off assets to reduce its debt.
Fosun, controlled by billionaire entrepreneur Guo Guangchang, has been one of the most aggressive foreign dealmakers in Portugal since mid-2014, when the country was still under an international bailout after a debt crisis.
“Fosun is not selling its stake in Millennium bcp. It is not for sale,” a Fosun spokesperson in Lisbon told Reuters last year. Fosun is the largest shareholder in Millennium bcp, followed by Angolan State oil company Sonangol with a stake of 19.5%.

Photo: Lusa – Miguel A. Lopes