ONE major British brokerage has recently asked the two largest political forces in the Legislative Council to analyse the latest political situation. The articles were only circulated internally. Based on the findings, the brokerage will make a detailed analysis of the current political atmosphere and make its recommendations. It is understood the conclusion of the review was that stocks should be sold, and this might be why the brokerage sold on a large scale on Thursday. - TIN TIN DAILY NEWS BECAUSE of the good response to its latest products, the share price of Hongkong Toy Centre has been rising of late. The products have been well received in Europe, and are expected to give company profits a tremendous boost. But since the new products have only been marketed for a short time, the extra profits will not be reflected in the company's accounts until next year. There were many large transactions in Toy Centre shares yesterday, indicating more important news is imminent. - TIN TIN DAILY NEWS DESPITE the political uncertainties, four major developers - Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land, Nan Fung and Chinachem - have bid for four pieces of land, the deadline for which was yesterday. All four have plenty of letter B certificates. The four plots are in Junk Bay, Tai Po, Tuen Mun and Sha Tin. Of these, the Junk Bay site is the most popular as it covers 300,000 square feet and has a plot ratio of about 10 times. As this site will take three to four years to develop, its prospects will not be affected by the recent downtrend in the stock market. - TIN TIN DAILY NEWS THE share price of Dah Sing Financial Holdings again rose substantially yesterday, by 70 cents to $18.50. It seems the company has set a price for the takeover of Wing On Bank and is likely to raise funds through a share placement. It is rumoured the placement price will be $20 a share. In order to show a discount to the spot price, the company's share price must rise to about $21. - WEN WEI PO IT is rumoured in the market that a mainland firm is to take over Wing Hung Kee, which has shown an unexciting performance since being taken over by a Southeast Asian group. The takeover by the mainland company could turn Wing Hung Kee around. - WEN WEI PO MR Fan Man-seung, managing director of Emperor International, says the company will maintain its operations in Hongkong. Because of the rapid expansion in its mainland business, China now accounts for 60 to 70 per cent of its turnover. At an extraordinary meeting of Bo Shing Holdings, the company's shareholders agreed to change the company's name to Emperor (China Concept) Investments. Bo Shing is involved in the development of a plot of land in Xiamen covering 11,700 square metres. Construction is to startearly next year. Total investment will amount to $200 million. The company has also joined forces with the Shunde authorities to develop a 500,000 sq m site, on which residential and commercial property will be built. It has also teamed up with the Foshan authorities to build a highway from Foshan to Chencun. - TA KUNG PAO THE director of the Fujian branch of the People's Bank of China says the State Council is considering amending regulations to allow joint-venture banks to operate renminbi business to a limited extent in special economic zones and suburban areas. - SING TAO TAK Wing Investments has issued a statement saying that the board of directors is unaware of any substance behind the rumour which appeared in a newspaper report alleging that controlling interests in the company are being negotiated and are set to change hands. - TA KUNG PAO SHUN Tak Holdings had originally planned to team up with five other dockyard owners to submit a redevelopment plan to the Government to redevelop the Cheung Sha Wan dockyard as a high-technology industrial and commercial complex. The dockyard owners are now understood to be delaying submission of the plan until Chinese New Year has passed. According to one of the dockyard owners, the reason for the delay was that the consultancy studying the redevelopment could not submit its findings for at least another month. The developers are also said to be negotiating with the Government, since the project will straddle 1997. The plans may also include sea rights. - HK ECONOMIC JOURNAL AFTER introducing the Sun Yuen Long Centre, Sun Hung Kai Properties is making preparations to introduce a Ma On Shan development to the market. It is understood that Sun Hung Kai will offer mortgages of more than 70 per cent, making it the second developerto do so after Henderson Land. The bank co-operating with Sun Hung Kai this time around may be Hongkong Bank. Hang Seng Bank may also participate in providing mortgages. - HK ECONOMIC TIMES Chinese Press Digest is produced by Corporate Information Services. For pre-publication service and other services, telephone 865 5006 or fax 865 5835.
