Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) said it planned to increase the size of a private placement of Shanghai-listed shares by 15 percent to raise as much as 8.7 billion yuan ($1.4 billion).

China's top aluminium producer now plans to issue up to 1.45 billion new shares to 10 unidentified private investors, up from 1.25 billion announced previously, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong bourse.

"The proposed share issue will further enhance the company's financing channels, reduce the debt-equity ratio of the group and provide the company with funds required for its ongoing business development," Chalco said.

It said the final price of the private placement would not be lower than 90 percent of the 20-day average from the close of trade on Aug. 26.

Chalco's Shanghai-listed shares closed at 5.82 yuan on Friday, and its 20-day moving average was 5.99 yuan, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The company on Aug. 16 reported net loss of 3.25 billion yuan for the six months through June, weighed down by weak aluminium prices and rising costs, compared with a net profit of 413 million yuan for the same period last year.

With high inventories and a more than 5 percent drop in prices in January-June, many aluminium producers are losing money. Benchmark three-month London Metal Exchange aluminium closed at $1,919 a tonne on Friday, down from almost $3,000 as recently as mid-2011.

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