The company hopes to raise between HK$150 million and HK$180 million in an initial public offering slated for early next month, sources close to the deal said.

Currently, founder Fung Siu-por and related parties own a 62.74 percent stake in the company, with six key managers controlling another 11.42 percent.

It's no surprise HKET is eyeing the mainland advertising market, which at US$9.03 billion (HK$70.43 billion) in 2004 was almost four times as large as Hong Kong's, according to figures from the IPO sponsor, BNP Paribas.

The group's ad revenues jumped 19 percent to HK$393 million in the year to March 31, 2005, compared to HK$330 million a year earlier. Ads, mostly in its flagship paper Economic Times, account for 65 percent of the group's total revenues, BNP said.

In addition to trying to boost mainland ad sales, the company has teamed up with Qianlong, one of China's largest financial information providers, to make Hong Kong stock quotes and other financial data available to mainland investors.

The report said the implementation of the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors or QDII program will make it easier for mainland investors to buy securities in Hong Kong. which should give a boost to demand for financial information.

Its Internet business, ET Net, which provides online real-time financial information, could also be expanded to the Taiwan and Japan markets, UOB Kay Hian said.

Economic Times, which was founded in 1988, had average daily circulation of 80,074 in the second half of 2004, according to the Hong Kong Audit Bureau of Circulations.

In addition to the paper, the group also owns e-zone, a Chinese-language personal computer magazine, a number of information and solutions businesses including ET Net, ET Wealth, ET Net Oneoffice and EPRC, and the recruitment weekly magazine Career Times.

The company is considering launching two more consumer magazines, according to UOB Kay Hian.

It reported a net profit of HK$65 million for the year to March 2005, a sharp increase from HK$26 million in the previous year, when earnings were badly hurt by the SARS outbreak. kc.wong@singtaonewscorp.com