bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

THE recent strength of the China Telecom (Hong Kong) (CTHK) share price has pushed the company ahead of Hongkong Telecom in terms of market capitalisation.

 CTHK's share price closed on Thursday at $16.15, up 60 cents, giving the company a $190.2 billion market value.

 Hongkong Telecom's price slipped 15 cents on Thursday, ending at $15.60 and giving the company a value of $185.78 billion.

 Just two months ago, CTHK lagged far behind Hongkong Telecom, with its share price hitting a low of $10.30 at the end of January.

 However, whereas Hongkong Telecom trades at a price-earnings ratio of about 15, CTHK is up at 37 times estimated 1997 earnings.

 CTHK is now the fourth largest listed company in the SAR, behind HSBC Holdings, Hutchison Whampoa and Hongkong Telecom's British parent, Cable & Wireless.

 Next Tuesday, CTHK produces its first set of annual results since its October initial public offering.

 It is not immediately clear why the stock has rallied so much in the past two months. Its 1997 results are unlikely to contain any big surprises, as the company is debt free and its only businesses are mobile phone services in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces. Expectation is high, however, that an injection of China Telecom's mobile business in Jiangsu province will take place soon. The company has already confirmed talks are under way.

 The company cannot announce any injections until a post-listing moratorium of corporate activity ends on April 23.

 The full implications of any injection cannot be assessed until the pricing is known.

 Figures of between US$2 billion and $4 billion are being bandied about by observers. This would make it one of the largest red-chip asset injections to date.

 Another factor helping CTHK's share price is that only about 10 per cent of the stock is in public hands, causing liquidity problems.

 Its parent, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in Beijing (now becoming part of the information industry ministry), holds about 75 per cent, with a further 9.9 per cent held by 12 strategic company investors who are locked in for at least a year after listing.

 Possibly the first of these to announce a disposal will be China Everbright Holdings. It is understood to have been contemplating a bond issue which could be converted into the CTHK shares it holds.



China’s Unitree teases platform allowing users to control robots through smartphones

Hong Kong needs to attract global champions to broaden fundraising base: FSDC

‘China’s little Nvidia’ Moore Threads warns of overheating risks after 723% share surge

China’s generative AI tiger MiniMax pursues Hong Kong IPO to expand global reach

China Telecom climbs ranking in run-up to results