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SCMP Reporter

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) will triple this year's staff bonuses  after breaking a turnover record set in 1997.

Some 800 HKEx employees are set to receive a bonus cheque  three times the amount they received last year, plus a moderate 2.5 per cent pay rise, the exchange said in a statement yesterday.

The  news came  after the exchange  said it had set a new year-to-date turnover record of  $3.789 trillion, exceeding the annual turnover record set in 1997 by about $913 million.

Chief executive Paul Chow Man-yiu said the  exchange had set aside  $50 million for year-end bonuses to  reward the hard work of its staff throughout the year.

HKEx paid out  $16 million in bonuses last year.

'Our staff will be getting an average bonus of 1.25 months' salary,' Mr Chow said at a ceremony  for Air China's  listing debut. 'Out-performers will receive higher bonuses.'

A  reserve of $5 million of the $50 million was set aside as special bonus to be shared among a group of outstanding staff, said Mr Chow.

HKEx also  said that it would raise salaries for the  first  time since July 2000, about the time the dotcom bubble burst and turnover slumped.

'The board of directors had approved to increase total staff costs by  4 per cent for next year,' said Mr Chow. That translates  into a minimum 2.5 per cent salary rise.

As of yesterday, a total of $264.7 billion  had been raised this year  in Hong Kong through  initial public offerings and secondary  offerings, including the listing of Air China and the share offering of Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings chairman Wong Kwong-yu this week.

The IPO rush showed no  signs of slowing down, said Mr Chow.

'We're currently processing about 50 applications for new listings, and a lot of are sizeable companies,' he said. 'Unless there is a substantial change in the environment, I don't see  any slowdown in IPO applications.'

According to Thomson First Call,  analysts are forecasting HKEx's current year net profit to grow by 37.95 per cent to $954.33 million, with turnover rising 12.69 per cent to $2.27 billion.

Meanwhile,  HKEx will implement the first-phase trial in reducing minimum spreads in the second quarter of next year in an effort to increase market liquidity.

A total of 20 stocks that are priced at more than $30 will be affected in the  trial.



HKEx triples staff bonuses as trading volume hits record