Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco) reported strong growth in alumina and aluminium production output in the first three months due to strong demand. The output of alumina jumped 10.1 per cent to 1.39 million tonnes year on year while the average sales price rose 24.8 per cent to 2,450 yuan (HK$2,296) per tonne during the quarter. Aluminium output edged up 0.4 per cent to 181,300 tonnes but the average sales price grew 6.6 per cent to 14,036 yuan per tonne. Chalco believed demand growth for aluminium in China would exceed output this year. China mobile subscriber growth falls in April Dominant mobile carrier China Mobile (Hong Kong) said its mobile subscriber growth fell 16 per cent month on month to 1.7 million new subscribers in April, the fewest monthly increase this year. In the first quarter, it added an average of over two million new users a month. Customer numbers totalled 125.51 million at the end of April, up by 1.37 per cent from 123.81 million in March. China Mobile blamed the decline in subscribers on the impact of Sars in certain operating areas. Sars to knock Luk Fook Gold jewellery retailer Luk Fook Holdings has warned that the Sars epidemic will have an adverse impact on its business. The company recorded a 47 per cent drop in sales in April, compared to the corresponding period last year. It has taken appropriate actions to reduce its operating costs. CCT Telecom Sells its cordless phone maker CCT Telecom has sold its wholly-owned cordless telephone maker Empire Success Holdings to another subsidiary, CCT Tech International, for HK$768 million. The transaction will be satisfied by the issue of a five-year convertible note by CCT Tech to CCT Telecom at a conversion price of 1.4 cents per share of CCT Tech, with accrued interest based on the best lending rate plus 2 per cent payable every quarter.
