CHINA-BACKED conglomerate CITIC Pacific plans to hit the acquisitions trail again after reporting a 212 per cent leap in net profit to $1.04 billion for last year. Acquisitions and the injection of assets from its parent, China International Trust and Investment Corp Hongkong (CITIC HK) have increased the company's stock-market capitalisation from $1.1 billion in January 1991 to $33 billion at the end of last month. Despite the spectacular leap in net profit, the issue of new stock to finance expansion meant earnings per share rose just 21 per cent to 87.4 cents. A final dividend of 22 cents was recommended, bringing the total for the year to 30.2 cents, a 22 per cent increase. CITIC Pacific chairman Larry Yung Chi-kin said yesterday CITIC HK would continue to put more assets into its listed vehicle. ''To meet the expansion target, a cash call is a possibility in the long run, but we have no plan for one in the short term,'' he said. Mr Yung said CITIC Pacific's total liabilities stood at about $2.2 billion, taking into account its recent $2.85 billion purchase, with Swire Properties, of land at Yau Yat Chuen. That, he said, gave the company a debt-to-equity ratio of about 10 per cent, putting it in a position to seek new opportunities in Hongkong and China. CITIC HK is investing in several infrastructure projects in Shanghai, including a harbour tunnel and power plant. These may be injected into CITIC Pacific in the future. CITIC Pacific, which bought Dah Chong Hong in July last year, has since used it to increase its car and retail business in China. Mr Yung said Dah Chong Hong had increased earnings by 40 per cent and accounted for 40 per cent of CITIC Pacific's total profit. He said profit contribution from 46 per cent-owned Hongkong Dragon Airlines had ''far exceeded that of 1991, and continued strong growth is expected in 1993''. Mr Yung said the airline's earnings might increase more than 100 per cent this year. CITIC Pacific refused to give a detailed earnings breakdown, but managing director Henry Fan Hung-ling forecast that Dah Chong Hong and the group's telecommunications business would each account for about 30 per cent of profit this year. In January, CITIC Pacific raised $7.17 billion through a share placement to buy a 12 per cent stake in Hongkong Telecommunications, a 20 per cent stake in Hongkong's first Chemical Waste Treatment Centre and large interests in two mainland power plant projects. Mr Yung said the new assets had substantially broadened the group's earnings base and would provide steady long-term income. He said Dah Chong Hong was finalising a joint-venture project to make trucks in Sichuan province. He said a mainland partner and Japanese firm Isuzu were also involved. While the turnover of the Hongkong car business rose 30 per cent last year, the market is still highly competitive. In the second half of last year, more vehicles were sold into China than in Hongkong. Mr Yung said he expected that trend to continue, and that Dah Chong Hong would aim to extend its China sales and service network. He said the company had recently bought a 51 per cent stake in the Shanghai Children's Food Factory, which has an annual production capacity of more than 13,000 tonnes. Mr Yung said CITIC Pacific would like to invest in telecommunications in China, either through or in partnership with Hongkong Telecom. He believed China would eventually open its telecommunication market to foreign investors. Mr Yung said Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau, which has a telecommunication services monopoly in Macau, had had a ''substantial increase in earnings in 1992''. CITIC Pacific has a 20 per cent stake in the company. Following the joint venture land purchase with Swire Properties, Mr Fan said CITIC Pacific would continue to look for more property investment opportunities.
