Lai See
Two takes for Le Saunda
It was not up to the usual standard of disclosure we have come to expect from listed companies.
Yesterday morning, Le Saunda Holdings, a Hong Kong-based footwear retailer, announced the disposal of a property for HK$34.6 million without saying where it was located.
It was not until a second, supplemental announcement after the market had closed that we found out the address, plus a little more information about the buyer and, more importantly, a clarification that the accounting profit would be HK$3 million, not HK$22 million as first stated.
Since the start of this year, HKEx has not been pre-vetting the content of company announcements of disclosable transactions and the issue of shares, so as to facilitate a more timely release of information.
However, the HKEx does seek clarifications where there has been a mishandling of information, as in the Le Saunda case.
One big, happy family at HSBC
Most local staff at HSBC are proud to work for the bank.
That little piece of information comes courtesy of the latest survey commissioned, of course, by HSBC.
The local unit issued a press release yesterday to say its staff engagement index had jumped a dramatic 12 points to 71 per cent from last year.
To lend some credibility to the survey, it was conducted by international human resources consultancy Kenexa and was completed by 17,200 local staff, a record 97 per cent response rate. (We suppose it did not include the 1,000 who have been sacked in the past 12 months.)
It sets a high bar, indeed, and we very much look forward to next year's figures, given the pending arrival of tough chief executive Michael Geoghegan, who will be based in Hong Kong instead of London.
Only for good causes
Morgan Stanley Asia chairman Stephen Roach (below) does not miss a chance to promote his latest book.
Yesterday at the Asia Society luncheon, the veteran economist assured a packed room at JW Marriott that none of the proceeds from Stephen Roach on the Next Asia: Opportunities and Challenges for a New Globalisation would be going to a banker.
They will go to two charities - the China Europe International Business School Foundation and the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre, China AIDS Initiative - although he joked that given his bonus expectations this year, perhaps he should be having a rethink.
