ASX

Group chairman Sir Kostas Constantinou in a statement said BSP is aware of speculation regarding a potential secondary listing of BSP on the Australian Securities Exchange.

He said as previously announced to POMSOX, BSP has been assessing how it might improve the liquidity of its share register.

“The timing and size of any offer under the Potential Listing, will depend on a number of factors within and outside BSP's control, including prevailing market conditions and investor appetite.”

Bankers at UBS met with fund managers in the past fortnight, testing their appetite for a dual listing of the financial operation in Australia, in addition to the Port Moresby stock exchange, where it is already listed.

The bank — one of the largest listed on the Port Moresby Exchange — has more deposits than loans because of the limited corporate field to lend to in Papua New Guinea, according to sources.

There are a number of economic headwinds in PNG — its biggest market — with inflation running at 6 or 7 per cent, while currency risk remains a factor.

In a statement from the Port Moresby Stock Exchange, the two week extension has been provided to enable renewed escrow arrangements to be put in place with Fu Shan to accommodate Bank of PNG regulatory requirements.

The Escrowed Shares represent approximately 20% of Kina's issued capital.

A voluntary escrow was entered into by Fu Shan for a period of 12 months from the date of the Company's admission to ASX and POMSoX.

Those arrangements were described in section 9.12.6.1 of the Prospectus and in the pre-quotation disclosure released on 29 July 2015.

The ASX 200 index was up 1.6 per cent to 5,316 by 11:07am (AEST), while the broader All Ordinaries was up 83 points to 5,398, having been as high as 5,410 earlier in the session.

It is the first time the All Ords has cracked 4,000 points in a month.

The strong gains have been broad-based, with 184 of the top 200 companies rising.

The market heavyweight banking and mining sectors were the driving force behind the strong market gains, with all four major banks up more than 2 per cent and BHP Billiton posting a similar rise.