THE share price of Hutchison Whampoa has stood firm in recent trading, despite the Hang Seng index falling more than 400 points over the past week. It has been rumoured that Hutchison is planning to issue more than US$8 million of convertible bonds. If this is true, this will be the largest convertible bond issue by a Hong Kong company. A spokesman for Hutchison would not confirm the plan, but securities analysts say Hutchison needs large amounts of capital for projects in China. -ECONOMIC JOURNAL GUANGZHOU Shipyard has acquired a shipyard in Shunde, Guangdong province for HK$32 million. Xin Zizhen, a director of Guangzhou Shipyard, says it is the first time the company has acquired a 100 per cent stake, and it hopes it can improve the plant's management quality and production capacity.- ECONOMIC JOURNAL HANWAH Holdings says Profitable Enterprises, a trust company of which the sole beneficiary is Yiu Kin-wai, chairman of Hanwah, is in discussion with a third party on the transfer of share ownership. If the talks are successful, they may lead to the acquisition of a controlling stake in Hanwah by the third party.- ECONOMIC JOURNAL PETER Woo, honorary chairman of Wharf Holdings, says the company plans to invest $10 billion in Wuhan to develop a container shipping centre and upgrade the light-rail transport network.- ECONOMIC JOURNAL WHILE Morgan Stanley has cut its weightings of Hong Kong stocks, Nomura Securities, one of the four largest Japanese brokerage houses, has increased its Hong Kong weighting from six per cent to eight per cent. Nicholas Knight, Nomura's global strategist, says the Japanese capital which has flowed into Hong Kong so far represents only the tip of the iceberg. Mr Knight recommends a reduction of holdings in Mexican stocks and an increase in Hong Kong stocks.- ECONOMIC TIMES SECURITIES sources says Paliburg Investment, which Paliburg plans to spin off for a separate listing, is seeking to raise $900 million through the issue of 900 million new shares at an offer price of $1 a share. The net asset value of the new shares will be 75 cents and the price-earnings ratio is estimated to be less than six. The new shares will account for 30 per cent of the expanded issued capital of Paliburg Investment and the remaining 70 per cent will continue to be held by Paliburg International Holdings. Paliburg Investment predicts that in the year ending December 31, the company will record an after-tax profit of about $500 million.- ECONOMIC TIMES SWANK International says it has introduced the Maxim's de Paris product line to the mainland and has established a retail outlet in Shenzhen to sell sunglasses under this name. Lam Yin-sang, chairman of Swank, says the company plans to establish retail outlets in other major cities on the mainland to sell these products.- ECONOMIC TIMES IN response to market rumours that Hanny Magnetics plans to issue convertible bonds and embark on a roadshow, company secretary Pang Kit-ting says the company has no need to issue convertible bonds or raise capital through any other channel. He says the company carried out a roadshow last month and there is no need for it to undertake another.- ECONOMIC TIMES WONG Kwai-chuen, a director of Kee Shing Holdings, has confirmed that he has reduced his holding in Kee Shing by 60 million shares, equivalent to 1.62 per cent of the issued capital.- MING PAO SAN Miguel's plan to co-operate with a brewery in Shunde to produce San Miguel beer is expected to be finalised by the end of the month. It is anticipated that after the new facilities go into operation, San Miguel's operating revenues on the mainland willgrow by 15 per cent per annum. Ho Ding-kwok, a director of San Miguel, says San Miguel will be the largest shareholder in the joint venture.- MING PAO SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21 ARTHUR Tse, managing director of Silver Eagle, anticipates that sales during the Thanksgiving and Christmas periods will be similar to last year. Meanwhile, he says high inventories maintained by US retailers may adversely affect orders received by SilverEagle early next year. Tse says orders for this Christmas were made at the beginning of the year and show a rise of more than 10 per cent from last year. These goods were delivered during the summer period and revenues from these sales should be reflected in the interim earnings report for the six months to the end of September 1993. Mr Tse also says the US market has been depressed over the past few months and sales of shoes made by Silver Eagle have fallen since September. Sales in the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas normally account for 35 per cent of full-year sales.- ECONOMIC JOURNAL MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22 THE effects of an eight per cent reduction in charges for international telephone services, introduced in August, are expected to be reflected in the second-half results of Hongkong Telecom. Hongkong Telecom's company secretary believes that growth in revenues from international telephone services will slow. However, Hongkong Telecom will attempt to control costs in order to maintain the profit growth recorded in the first half.- ECONOMIC JOURNAL CATHAY Pacific will actively expand its operations on the mainland over the next few years. The company plans to invest in the Wuhan airport project and if its bid is successful it will initially invest more than $1.2 billion. The airport should be in use in December.- ECONOMIC TIMES STUART Burnett, director of Mandarin Oriental, says the number of guests staying at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Excelsior Hotel in the first nine months of this year equalled the total for the whole of 1992. He says the recovery of the hotel industry and the approach of the peak travel season mean that occupancy rates at the two hotels will rise.- ECONOMIC TIMES WALSIN International says Walsin Hong Kong Ltd, which holds a 56.76 per cent stake in the company, has ended discussions with a third party on the sale of its shares. No agreement was reached.- ECONOMIC TIMES YOSHIYA International denies rumours that it is involved in talks regarding the acquisition of a controlling stake in the company or that an agreement has been reached on the acquisition. There has been speculation Cheung Kong Holdings will acquire Yoshiya.- ECONOMIC TIMES K. WAH Property has acquired a site at 62 Conduit Road for $100 million. The company plans to redevelop the site into a high-rise residential property. Sources say the site has an area of 12,000 square feet and a plot ratio of 3.92 times. They say a 14-storey residential building with four storeys of car parking will be developed.- ECONOMIC TIMES FAR East Intercontinental reduced its holdings in Far East Hotel by 10 million shares on November 11. Its holding is now 11.71 per cent.- ECONOMIC TIMES REGAL International says Tomson Pacific reduced its holding in the company by 6.56 million shares on November 4, meaning its stake has now fallen from 10.6 per cent to 9.81 per cent.- ECONOMIC TIMES