Consumer: Bonjour Holdings (653HK) recorded a net profit of HK$69.44 million for the first half, up 18.1 per cent compared with a year ago. Earnings per share were HK$0.309. An interim dividend of HK$0.2 per share was declared. Daphne International (210 HK) posted a 1 per cent rise in its first-half net profit to HK$ 261 million compared to a year ago. Earnings per share were HK$ 15.96 HK cents. An interim dividend of 3 HK cents was declared. The company said it would concentrate on the women shoes business and withdraw from its sportswear business.
Properties: Cheung Kong’s (1 HK) 39-floor hotel project in Heung Yip Road gains approval from the Town Planning Board. The Board said the project meets the direction of development of the area as a commercial use land and may help to boost its tourism and transportation network. Henderson Land Development (12HK) would reserve HK$8 billion for the premium of the land located at Wu Kai Sha and Tai Tong Road in Yuen Long for the changes of land use. The developer would have the most land reserved for development in Hong Kong upon the completion of the deal. Guangzhou Investment (123HK) reported yesterday that its first-half net profit rose 47 per cent to HK$687 million, compared to a year earlier. Earnings per share were HK$0.96. No interim dividend was declared. The company said it would inject more capital to its land development business. Meanwhile, its subsidiary GZI Transport recorded a 47 per cent year-on-year drop in its interim net profit to HK$80 million. Hopson Development (754HK), a Hong Kong-based developer of real estate in China, posted a net profit of HK$906 million for the first six months, down 3 per cent from a year earlier, dragged down by the decrease in prices and a greater proportion of sales from lower-end products. Earnings per share were 61 HK cents. An interim dividend of 9.2 HK cents was declared. Hong Kong-listed property developer New World Development (17 HK) has sold over 150 homes at The Masterpiece, its new Tsim Sha Tsui project, since its launch on Saturday, sources reported. The developer put 55 flats more for sale yesterday and raised the price of the new list of flats by 1.8 per cent, compared with the last list.
IPO: Mainland contractor China Metallurgical Corp started its pre-marketing yesterday to raise as much as HK$31 billion. Together with its A shares sales in Shanghai, China Metallurgical Corp will offer 90.09 per cent of new H shares which represents 18.3 per cent of its outstanding share capital, while the rest will be sold by state-owned National Social Security Fund. Yet, it only offers 5 per cent shares of the total offering to local investors, instead of the usual 10 per cent.
Telecomm: China Mobile (941 HK), the world’s biggest wireless carrier, launched its own mobile phone operating system that can support its homegrown 3G standard. The Ophone platform is the world’s first mobile phone operating system developed by a telecom carrier, and China Mobile expects the Ophone handsets could stabilize its slowing profit growth. The move comes less than one week after the country’s second biggest wireless carrier China Unicom’s sales of iPhones in China. Competition in the country’s 3G market is expected to intensified.
Lee & Man (746 HK) reported yesterday that its net profit for the first six months rose 33 per cent to HK$71 million from a year earlier. Earnings per share were 8.7 HK cents. The company proposed an interim dividend of 3 HK cents.
Regal Hotels International (78 HK) and Bosideng Holdings Limited (3998) entered into a hotel management agreement entrusting Regal to manage a five-star luxury property for Bosideng in Shandong. This management project is a step forward for Regal to expand its hotel network in China. The investment of the five-star property amounts to over 400 million yuan. The hotel is scheduled to be opened in the third quarter of 2010.
Rumour has it that The Bank of East Asia (23 HK) will merge with Guoco Group (0053) as the latter increases its holdings in the bank to $1.26 million shares, from 6.95 per cent to 7.02 per cent, which is the third time in this year.
Xinyi Glass announced yesterday that its first-half net profit plunged 44 per cent to HK$225 million, compared to a year earlier. Earnings per share were 13.3 HK cents. The company proposed an interim dividend of 6 HK cents.
Sources: Sing Tao Finance, Hong Kong Economic Journal, Hong Kong Economic Times, The Standard
