LDC London Asia

RNS Number:6261Y
London Asia Capital PLC
20 February 2006

For immediate release: 20 February 2006


                            LONDON ASIA CAPITAL PLC


                      UPDATE ON UK CAPITAL MARKET ACTIVITY


London Asia Capital plc ("London Asia"), the Greater China focused investment
and merchant banking group, announces an update on developments with a number of
its UK listed investee companies.


Our investment strategy continues to be to work with profitable private
businesses in Greater China, providing corporate finance advice and investing
where we can identify an exit for our investment at a higher valuation through
either trade sale or through the capital markets, to get the money back to
re-invest in new transactions.


China Education Group Ltd ("CEG") announced last Friday its maiden Interim
Results since being admitted to Ofex in December 2005. Results showed a 47%
increase in profits for the six months to 31 December 2005 to #1.67 million
(2004: #1.1 million), on increased turnover of #1.9 million (2004: #1.3
million). CEG shares were up over 9% on the news


CEG also said that compared with figures at 31 December 2004, students numbers
increased by 3,000 to 11,000, with a 75% increase in high margin overseas
students. Additional development at the SIIT campus is also underway to increase
capacity to meet the growth in student numbers, funded in part via the #0.8
million raised in the successful Ofex listing in December 2005, where London
Asia was Corporate Finance adviser.


London Asia holds both CEG ordinary shares and Convertible Loan Notes, acquired
in late 2005 both through investment and in settlement of corporate finance
fees. AiM listed Europasia Education plc (EPE), in which London Asia holds an 8%
stake, holds an additional 14% stake, plus #387,000 Convertible Loan Notes.


China Biotech Healthcare Ltd ("China Biotech") commenced trading on Ofex last
week and was the best performing share on Ofex on its first day. The liquidity
in the shares is particularly impressive for a smaller company and the price
remains at a premium of over 30% above the listing price. In order to aid
liquidity, London Asia has made some of its holding in China Biotech available
to the market as part of its obligations on listing it on Ofex, which has
resulted within the first week of its listing in London Asia recuperating all of
our cash investment of #57,000 made in China Biotech in mid January 2006.


London Asia holds a 33% stake in China Biotech, the holding Company of
profitable Chinese life science business, Century Huanding (Tianjin) Biomedicine
Technology Co. Ltd ("Huanding"), plus a further 14% stake through its joint
venture LAC Consensus. The stake was acquired in January 2006.


London Asia also currently has holdings in three other UK listed businesses:
China Eastsea Business Software Ltd (Ofex), which announced a 100% profit
increase in its interim results in November 2005 following its listing in
October 2005; Peach Blossom Media Limited (Ofex), which listed on Ofex in
December 2005; and Europasia Education plc (AiM code EPE).


London Asia has disposed of its entire holding in Ofex listed Betex Group plc
("Betex"), which we brought to listing on Ofex last May, making over a 100%
return on our investment. We are delighted with how Betex has performed; its
share price has risen significantly since listing, and it is regularly one of
the most traded stocks on Ofex. Betex has announced its intention to move to AIM
and we wish it well.


London Asia took a strategic stake of #250,000 at 5p a share in AiM listed PLUS
Markets Group plc ("PLUS Markets"), formerly Ofex Holdings plc, in late 2004 as
part of its refinancing and change of management. We believed at the time we
invested that Ofex would become a useful first entrance to the UK capital
markets for many of our Chinese clients and investments, and this has
subsequently proved to be very much the case, with London Asia Corporate Finance
to date having acted as Corporate Sponsor for the listing of five Asian focused
businesses on Ofex.


PLUS Markets continues to develop, with the recent launch of the new PLUS
platform, KBC Peel Hunt becoming the fourth market maker for Ofex listed
companies, and a steady stream of new listings, both from the UK and overseas.
London Asia has taken advantage of the recent strength in PLUS Market's share
price to exit our entire investment, realising over #1 millionat an average
sales price of over 20p. We look forward to continuing to work with PLUS
Markets: through our position on the Advisory Board; through the marketing we do
of Ofex in Asia, which is a core product we promote to clients and investee
companies; through continuing to bring more Asian companies to list on Ofex; and
through continuing to grow those businesses on Ofex where we act as Corporate
Adviser.


Simon Littlewood, CEO of London Asia commented: "Our aim is to generate profits
for shareholders, through corporate finance and other advisory fees, profits on
sale of investments, and fund management fees. We seek to realise cash for
further investments from our listed portfolio as and when the opportunities
arise. This enables us to book profits on our investments, and generates cash
flow to fund the running of the business and new investments."


"We are seeing increasing numbers of businesses from Greater China seeking to
list in the UK, driven by the recent successful listings on both Ofex and AiM of
Chinese companies, and the increasing awareness within the UK of the need to
capitalise on the opportunities in China, which recently overtook the UK to
become the fourth largest economy on the planet. London Asia, with its offices
both in the UK and China, is well placed to meet both the needs of these
businesses, and of UK investors seeking exposure to the opportunities in China."



For further information please visit www.londonasia.com or contact:

John West/Matt Ridsdale                  Simon Littlewood
Tavistock Communications                 London Asia Capital plc
Tel: 020 7920 3150                       Tel 020 7248 7578



About China Education Group

CEG is an Ofex listed facilities management company, which manages Shandong
International Institute of Translation ("SIIT"), a profitable private college
based in Shandong Province, China. SIIT has 11,000 students, based in two
campuses. For additional information, visit the Company's web site at
www.chinaeducationgroup.com


About China Biotech

China Biotech is a profitable Chinese life science business, listed on Ofex. It
is a technology commercialisation company, which develops and distributes
healthcare products in partnership with leading Chinese universities and
research institutes. The partnership agreements typically allow the Company to
exploit research results, by either marketing sales of a final product or
selling the intellectual property rights, in exchange for financing and advising
on the commercialisation process, including clinical trials and legal
requirements.


The Company's core product is a unique, patented herbal derived bio-chromium
supplement for long-term diabetes treatment, approved by the Chinese Ministry Of
Health ("MOH") and which is already achieving good sales in China. China is
ranked second in the world in the incidence of diabetes and has an estimated 35
to 50 million people suffering from the disease. It is estimated that this could
reach as high as 100 million by 2025 if no effective measures are taken to curb
the epidemic. Diabetes is now the third highest cause of death in the country
(after cardiovascular disease and cancer) and it is estimated that over US$ 1
billion is spent annually on the treatment.


The Company is also in the process of developing additional products that are at
various stages of development. For additional information visit
www.chinabiotechhealthcare.com



About China Eastsea Business Software ("Eastsea")

Eastsea was formed in 2004 through the buyout of the IT department of Sinopec
Zhenhai Oil Refining and Chemical Company Limited (a leading oil refinery in
China), and a series of other acquisitions.


The Group provides outsourcing services including IT strategy formulation,
system design, ERP implementation, software development, business workflow
processing and system maintenance. The Group has proprietary technology on a
management platform over Internet, intranet and corporate portals, as well as on
information integration.


Oil/gas industry clients include Sinopec Zhenhai, BP Ningbo and various
subsidiaries of Sinopec. Government clients include the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the State Development Bank, the Ministry of Culture, the State
Development and Reform Committee and the municipal governments of Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou and Ningbo. The Group's ERP project for Sinopec Zhenhai won
a prestigious National award for "Best IT Application".


For additional information, visit www.chinaeastsea.com



About Peach Blossom Media

Peach Blossom is a world-class original content producer, engaged in the
creation, production, marketing and distribution of animated children's programs
for television and 'Direct to Video' markets, as well as the exploitation of
ancillary rights through licensing and merchandising. Its original shows have
been sold to leading international broadcasters such as Disney, Jetix,
Nickelodeon and many others.


With the first series "Tomato Twins", a 26-episode animation series that was the
first original Asian show to be broadcast internationally on major children's
channel, Nickelodeon, Peach Blossom established its reputation as Singapore's
premiere content house. The Company recently completed a new 52-episode series
entitled "Taoshu the Warrior Boy", which is sold worldwide, including
Nickelodeon Asia and to leading broadcasters in Europe, Middle East and Hong
Kong. Peach Blossom is also currently co-producing a range of new programmes
with leading Asian and US studios. For additional information, visit
www.peachblossommedia.com



About Europasia Education plc

EPE is an AIM listed education investment group, focused on opportunities in
Europe and Asia. It has three core investments:

o         13.8% of China Education Group, plus #387,000 of Convertible Loan
Notes;

o         100% of Education 2000, an English language and work experience
placement business based in Bournemouth, UK;

o         100% of Columbia International, trading under the name Management
International, an education consulting and work placement business based in
London.

For additional information, visit www.europasiaeducation.com










                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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