RUSAL Cuts Lot Size in HK to Boost Liquidity

HONG KONG, Oct. 8 -- UC RUSAL (0486.HK: Quote) (0486.HK: Quote), the world's largest aluminium maker, has cut the minimum size its shares can be traded in on the Hong Kong Exchange by three quarters to make the stock more accessible to retail investors and boost liquidity.

The size of a lot of RUSAL -- the minimum amount per transaction -- was reduced to 6,000 shares from 24,000 shares from Oct 4.

The original lot size had been set high at the company's trading debut earlier this year due to its high debt, as the Hong Kong securities regulator looked to discourage investment by smaller, less sophisticated retail investors. As part of that focus, the IPO was also limited to institutional investors.

"We believe that the aluminium market has a very positive outlook and hope that retail investors find our shares to be a valuable tool for their wealth managingment," said RUSAL's CEO Oleg Deripaska in a statement on Tuesday.

Shares of RUSAL ended down 0.3 percent on Tuesday with a moderate 2.55 million shares changing hands. They underperformed the broader market .HSI, which was up 0.1 percent.

RUSAL shares have risen about 17 percent since the end of August after it announced forecast-beating second quarter earnings on an aluminium price rebound and a revaluation gain from its investment in Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM: Quote).

RUSAL also said earlier this week that it completed refinancing its Vnesheconombank (VEB) loan with a new $4.59 billion credit facility from Sberbank, a final step in a comprehensive programme to restructure its loan portfolio.

The new loan, which is for the period of up to December 2013, carries an interest rate of LIBOR plus 5 percent, it said.