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SCMP Reporter

CONSIDERING that Windows 95 is selling faster in Hong Kong on CD-Rom than on floppy disk, Hanny Magnetics might be considering a change of name to Hanny Punchcards and Tickertape Makers.

  Microsoft says that more than half of the home PC users who visited its Cyber Cafe promotions around town used CD-Roms, which looks like bad news for Hanny's core market.

  But if Hanny is selling old tech, it still has a few modern communications tricks up its corporate sleeve.

  Like putting an official announcement about a connected transaction scandal in one newspaper while advising all the others about the results and the re-financing package being organised by Li Ka-shing.

  In November 1993, Hanny paid US$65 million for the rights to the Memorex brand name and some old junk belonging to Tandy.

  It was about the dumbest thing it could have done, although brokers fell over themselves to proclaim chairman Wong Sun's genius.

  Not only did Hanny alienate existing OEM customers by going into competition with them, it vastly overpaid.

  Since the deal it has made huge write offs. In the results just published it wrote off $70.81 million from re-organisation expenses, $66.05 million from writing off stocks and operating expenses doubled because of incorporating the Memorex business for the first time. Hanny also wrote off $112.4 million in obsolete and defective stocks.

  But at least one person has done all right out of the deal, although Hanny broke stock exchange rules by rewarding him.

  It seems that Park Seung Whan received commission of $18 million for organising the acquisitions and further commissions for sales and distribution in the United States.

  The commission should have been revealed to shareholders in November 1993 and it should have been in the annual report because Mr Park was a director of a subsidiary. 'The directors did not appreciate the implications of the listings rules,' Mr Sun said. 'The directors regret their failure to consult appropriate advisers with regard to the commission arrangement.'   The minority shareholders just wish Hanny had consulted appropriate advisers with regard to the acquisition.

  The winner is HEARTY Lai See congratulations to Peregrine Asset Management.

  The firm's Options and Derivatives Fund is top of the Micropal Far East Ex Japan lists.

  The fund apparently has been top performer all the way from September 1 right up to September 15, according to the firm. Big Wow.

  Shame the punters could only buy it from September 12.

  Fated dates THE Department of 'if we knew then what we know now' at Huey Tai International had a busy year.

  On June 16, 1994, company founder and executive director Chan Kee-hwa sold some of his property to Huey Tai for $22.6 million.

   The annual report does not say what the property is, but a reasonable stab in the dark would be luxury accommodation.

  But this is no straight forward 'director flogs flat to company' story.

  The price agreed on was taken directly from a valuation report by Jones Lang Wootton - a report issued on March 31, 1994.

  Think for a moment about those two dates: March 31, 1994 and June 16, 1994. Something rather important happened around then.

  On March 29, Governor Christopher Patten gave his speech calling for cooling measures. On June 10, news of the measures was released following Tony Eason's secret briefing to brokers on June 9.

  But obviously the property sold by Mr Chan can't have changed in market value as a result, or else the other directors surely would have been failing in their duties not to have insisted on a fresh valuation to take account of the altered circumstances.

  Eternal view GIGGLING noises are being heard at various PR offices around town following the debacle of Hopewell's results announcement.

  Past friction over the timing of the announcement led the board to decide that this time they would get it right. To that end, top PR firm Burson Marsteller was hired to handle the ravening rat-pack.

  For reasons that can't be blamed fully on either side, the announcement was just a big debacle as in the past and Burson possibly will not be handling the next Hopewell announcement.

  Laid waste LIFE for the average working journalist in Hong Kong is one long round of free-lunches, drinks and offers of expensive nights out.

  A colleague managed to snag a particularly enticing night out yesterday when she went to the Hong Kong Waste Management Association annual general meeting. The meeting itself was just a trifle dry. 'The Minutes seemed like hours,' our reporter said.

  But the after-meeting entertainment was unlike anything she had seen before. They had a filmfest slide show on 'Incinerators In Singapore and Indonesia'.

  Was this good entertainment? Our correspondent reports a certain similarity between incinerators whether they be installed in Jakarta or the Lion City.

  But perhaps some of the thrill passed over the heads of the uninitiated because although the slide show lasted 40 minutes, everyone stayed to the end.

  What's more, when the end finally came, a veritable forest of arms shot into the air to ask questions.

  The lecturer, who was a German gentleman, was asked by one chap how Germany handled its hazardous waste.

  'In Germany we do not have hazardous waste. It is too emotional a word. We have 'Waste which requires special treatment',' he said.

  We were rather disappointed they didn't think of 'Environmentally challenged waste'.



Dated Hanny says no thanks for the Memorex