Investment-holding company ITC is counting on the speculative interest in technology stocks to help it become profitable this year, according to vice-chairman Lau Ko-yuen.
Mr Lau said ITC's two major information-technology (IT) investments - entertainment Web-site operator Star East Information Technology (SEIT) and New World CyberBase - could help it get back into the black if the rise of their share prices was realised.
ITC directly holds a 27 per cent interest in SEIT and indirectly holds 350 million shares in New World CyberBase through Paul Y ITC Construction Holding.
ITC reported a $341.75 million loss for the year ended March 31.
The company attributed the poor result mainly to Paul Y ITC Construction's $797.9 million loss in the period. ITC has a 39.9 per cent stake in the construction company.
In the period, Paul Y ITC reported an exceptional loss of more than $1 billion from provisions made for property and equities investments, through the company's investment arm, Paul Y Properties.
In June, New World Development acquired a controlling stake in Paul Y Properties by injecting IT assets into the company, which it renamed New World CyberBase.