Wharf T&T clinches contract to set up HK exchange data system

Wharf T&T, a fixed-line telephone operator wholly owned by Wharf (Holdings), says it has a contract to set up a financial management information system for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and has completed the core intersite network infrastructure upgrade of HKEx's derivatives markets.

Wharf T&T president Vincent Ma Wai-shin declined to disclose the contract size and whether the company's operating profit for the second half of last year could offset the first-half loss.

First-half sales declined 5 per cent to HK$681 million last year, mainly due to price erosion.

Operating loss was HK$4 million, compared with a profit of about HK$39 million in the first half of 2005.

'We will book one-off revenue from HKEx in the balance sheet of 2006 and receive a maintenance fee every year later,' Mr Ma said.

The upgraded infrastructure would help HKEx achieve a higher degree of intersite network reliability and scalability as well as improve its network capacity.

The upgraded infrastructure for the derivatives market will run on a Wharf T&T dedicated fibre-optic network coupled with a Nortel optical metro multi-service platform and Cisco network switches. The capacity would be increased about 20 times, said the company.