PCCW bristled at analysts' suggestions yesterday that its Cyberport residential project may not turn a profit for the telecommunications company.
PCCW Infrastructure chairman Robert Lee Chi-hong reiterated that the project would be a profit contributor, saying Cyberport was an asset, not a liability.
Mr Lee was responding to a report by CLSA analyst Stephen Leung, who forecast Cyberport would turn a HK$831 million loss if it sold space in the project at HK$4,500 per square foot.
It was the second time within a month an analyst had called into question the profitability of Cyberport.
JP Morgan Edison Lee said previously that at HK$5,000 per square foot for residential units, PCCW would probably incur a loss. Mr Lee said the analysts' assumptions were incorrect.
'Definitely, Cyberport would be making money if we sold the project at HK$4,500. Our cost for break-even is considerably less than HK$5,000,' Mr Lee told a teleconference.
He said Cyberport could be self-financed if PCCW managed to sell at least 450 units a year, which is about 2 per cent of average residential property transactions of 22,700 over the past seven years.
