Retailing operations fail to help Celestial
Celestial Asia Securities Holdings recorded a loss of HK$454.03 million last year amid a falling securities market and the bursting of the technology bubble.
A change of accounting practice also turned the company's annual result for 2000 from a profit of HK$101.77 million to a loss of HK$336.35 million.
For the year to December 31 last year, turnover doubled to HK$973.56 million from HK$472.83 million.
The increase was largely accounted for by retailer Pricerite Group, in which Celestial Asia acquired 66.2 per cent in March under a restructuring that transformed the company from a brokerage firm to a multi-faceted service conglomerate.
Pricerite operates about 40 outlets selling furniture and household products. For the nine months to December 31 it reported HK$748.63 million in turnover and HK$14.61 million in profit.
Celestial Asia chairman Bankee Kwan Pak-hoo said the group's brokerage and technology operations suffered from the adverse sentiment.
Mr Kwan said the decline in the securities market caused a substantial drop in its brokerage business, which the company injected into its 50.8 per cent-owned CASH Financial Services Group in August.
He said the brokerage business contributed HK$137 million to the parent's loss.
Celestial Asia also wrote off HK$228.9 million in impairment loss on its technology investments.
The consolidation of the retail and brokerage operations also brought one-off restructuring costs of nearly HK$50 million.
Celestial Asia and Pricerite are both listed on the main board, while CASH Financial Services is floated on the Growth Enterprise Market.
Mr Kwan said that, due to the introduction last year of an accounting practice which required the company to capitalise goodwill as assets and amortise them, Celestial Asia restated its 2000 annual result by writing off HK$438.11 million.
