In separate announcements yesterday, Hutchison and Cheung Kong said their creditworthiness and gearing position would remain strong despite Hutchison's move into Britain's third-generation (3G) mobile telephone sector. It won one of five British 3G licences, paying GBP4.38 billion (about HK$53.71 billion) via a 90 per cent joint venture with Canada-based Telesystems Wireless International.

Hutchison acknowledged concerns about its credit profile because of its 3G initiative and said it had not had an opportunity to review the credit implications with the rating agencies.

'We will be meeting with the agencies over the coming months to review our business and plans,' Hutchison said.

It was confident the proposed 3G business plan in Europe would offer strong growth for the group while remaining consistent with a prudent and conservative credit profile.

'Our financial position remains very strong with low gearing, good cash flow and strong recurrent income,' it said.

Hutchison noted similar concerns had been expressed by agencies last June when the company supported its US associated company - Voicestream - in its merger with Omnipoint Communications.

The investment has proven to be successful, as the share price of Voicestream went to US$110, five times higher than the US$22 at the time of the acquisition.

Meanwhile, Cheung Kong said it would continue to enjoy a strong financial position and was confident about the prospects for Hutchison's 3G business.

'The 3G business, the subject of the credit watch, will not alter the creditworthiness nor the low gearing position of Cheung Kong,' it said.