Shanghai Industrial Holdings has unveiled a plan to participate in Shanghai's information technology project after announcing a 12.4 per cent year-on-year drop in earnings to HK$1.01 billion in the year to December 31 last year. The company would move into infrastructure development of the city's Information Port project, chairman Cai Laixing said. The Information Port is a large-scale project by the Shanghai city government. The government this year was planning more than eight billion yuan (about HK$7.44 billion) worth of proposals, which were part of the Information Port project, Mr Cai said. He refused to say how, or how much, his company would invest in the development, but said details would be released in about three months. The Shanghai government reportedly plans to build the basic backbone of its Information Port project by the end of the year, providing broadband connection to city homes so residents will be able to use the telephone, watch television or log on to the Internet at home using the service. 'The group has completed its two-year business realignment period and entered a new stage of steady earnings growth,' he said. Turnover last year fell 7.22 per cent to HK$3.3 billion and earnings per share fell 12 per cent to HK$1.14. Directors proposed a final dividend of 22 HK cents, making a dividend payout of 33 HK cents, unchanged from the preceding year. Mr Cai said the profit drop was due to the 86 per cent fall in earnings of its Nanyang Tobacco and more than HK$90 million provisions for the group's strategic investment in companies including Jiangsu Expressway and Zhejiang Expressway. Mr Cai said the tobacco and car-parts businesses would perform better this year. Mr Cai said the company, with HK$4.8 billion cash on hand, had identified a number of investments which would be worth billions. Mr Cai said the company had also signed an agreement to develop phase one of the Waigaoqiao container port terminal with Hutchison Whampoa and Cosco Pacific. The group also planned to develop a logistics centre in Shanghai, and continue product development of anti-cancer medicine and DNA chips.
