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Ben Kwok

missing link bears all the hallmarks of the curse of auntie lo

Could The Link Reit, upended last year by tenants' rights activist Lo Siu-lan, pull off an error-free launch this year? Of course not.

Yesterday the trust revealed that  due to a printing error - which, alas, was not included among its potential risk factors - some copies of its prospectus were missing pages or contained unspecified mistakes. Its representatives maintain that the number of affected documents was 'very insignificant' and  that the  glitch has been  fixed.

The curse of Auntie Lo strikes again.

wheeler-dealers make heads spin

Shareholders  in Wheelock & Co's Singapore subsidiary, Wheelock Properties, can be forgiven for feeling a bit confused.

First, they learned they would be given a S$2.0625 ($9.39) special dividend (or S$1.625 net after  20 per cent tax). Then the  company announced a two-for-one rights issue at S$0.825.

Parent Wheelock, furthermore, will commit its entire take from the special dividend to the  issue.

Why bother, you may well ask. We certainly did. Analysts  say it must have something to do with tax planning. If you know the answer, Lai See would like to hear from you. Answers on a postcard, please.

bold bosses rely on dutch courage

If you want to cheer up your shareholders, try buying them drinks.

Last week Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp  invited its 10,000 Hong Kong retail investors to cocktails with the management. One hundred people booked and 50 showed up for the event at the Kowloon Hotel.

Lai See applauds  the firm's bravery. Its shares, which closed at  $1.13, are down more than 30 per cent on the year and almost 60 per cent since they  debuted in March 2004.

There can't be  many managers who would voluntarily face shareholders  in such a situation, let alone help them drown their sorrows.

dogfight becomes catfight

Airbus officials were basking in the glory of the belated arrival in Singapore of the A380, their new 'game-changing' aircraft that  can seat up to 853 passengers in all-economy  class configuration.

But  hectic as the A380's inaugural Asian tour  was, the men from Toulouse still found time for some humour at rival Boeing's expense. Chief commercial officer John Leahy asked for the audience's understanding when a presentation he was giving  was plagued by a computer glitch that left an annoying black square in the middle of the  live images.

'I apologise for the little bug bouncing around on the screen,' he said. 'But you need to know this software was made in Seattle.'

competitive spirit

Should Hong Kong have a competition law? Former Wharf T&T vice president Tony Cheung Tung-lan thinks so, even though fierce competition  in his sector may very well have cost him his job. Mr Cheung recently left the fixed-line carrier after almost 10  years with the company.

Telecoms is one of the few sectors in town where no-holds-barred competition is the rule rather than the exception. As a result, Mr Cheung tells us in our latest '14 minutes with Lai See' podcast, carriers struggle while Hong Kong consumers enjoy some of the lowest telephone bills in the world.

Mr Cheung remembers one particularly hellish day when Wharf T&T cut a promotional IDD service rate not once, not twice but three times. The company started the day charging 7 cents per minute and ended it giving the service away for free. For more, log on to podcasting.scmp.com.

taming of the shrews

Speaking of Wharf T&T, Lai See hears that  firm's media-friendly communications team - staffed by Samantha, Hidy, Rebecca, Eliza and Winnie - sometimes jokingly refer to themselves as the shrews, drawing on the first letters of their names.

They hope to hire someone whose name begins with the letter 'd', which would render them just plain shrewd.



Lai See