Sars outbreak boosts IT services
Red chip Beijing Development (Hong Kong) has partly credited a 153 per cent surge in interim profit to the Sars outbreak, after its information technology unit was besieged with hundreds of network orders from schools for students studying from home.
'Unlike other enterprises, we didn't suffer damage from the outbreak of Sars,' chairman Xiong Daxin said yesterday.
'In fact, we received 400 network installation contracts from primary and secondary schools in Beijing and the contract price for each school is around 300,000 yuan (HK$283,000).'
Students were required to take online courses at home during the outbreak.
The company said interim net profit surged 153 per cent to $8.12 million in the six months to June from $3.2 million a year earlier.
Turnover amounted to $202.69 million, up 24 per cent from $162.66 million previously. Earnings per share soared 143 per cent to 1.75 cents from 0.72 cent.
The firm's business related to education information technology and its multi-purpose electronic payment cards brought revenue of $70 million, 70 per cent higher than the same period last year, said managing director Ng Kong-fat.
Mr Xiong said: 'There are more than 3,000 primary and middle schools in Beijing and over 1,000 have been equipped with the on-campus education network.
'After the Sars outbreak, government, schools, teachers, parents and students themselves all realised the convenience and significance of online education. This will bring us more opportunities.'
