May. 11, 2012 (China Knowledge) - China Everbright Bank Co Ltd<601818>, the banking unit of state-owned China Everbright Group, plans to raise between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion through an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, said sources familiar the matter.

The fund-raising target was much lower than the US$6 billion the bank set last year.

The sources added that China Everbright Bank has submitted listing application and seeks to win approval next month.

The lender said earlier that its net profit surged 41.07% year on year to RMB 6.86 billion in the first quarter of this year. Operation revenue for the first three month reached RMB 15.1 billion, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 35.34%, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.