HONG KONG - CITIC Pacific, the Hong Kong arm of a Chinese government investment company, said it has secured a US$1.5 billion (S$2.3 billion) bailout from its parent company to cover losses from bad currency bets.

Beijing-based Citic Group has agreed to provide a standby loan of 11.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (S$2.3 billion) which would be replaced by a convertible bond of the same value, Citic Pacific said in a statement filed to Hong Kong stock exchange late on Wednesday.

Citic Group will also assume all liabilities from Citic Pacific's bad bets against the US dollar from leveraged foreign-currency contracts, the statement said.

Shares of the company jumped 5 per cent to HK$6.36 in early trade on Thursday after it resumed trading. The stock was suspended from trading since Oct 31.

Citic Pacific, a Hong Kong-listed conglomerate with businesses ranging from airlines to mining to Wal-Mart stores, said last month it stood to make significant losses after bets on the Australian dollar-to hedge the costs of supplies and equipment for an Australian iron-ore operation-and other currencies went bad.

Total losses from all contracts are estimated at HK$16.8 billion as of Tuesday, according to the statement.

In a separate statement, Citic Pacific said the loan facility would provide the company with a sound financial platform to 'continue its operation with an appropriate level of debt'.

'We can now move on and begin to put the recent unfortunate event behind us', said chairman Larry Yung.

Citic Pacific is under investigation by the territory's securities watchdog, the Securities and Futures Commission, and the company that runs the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, for a delay in disclosing the losses. -- AP