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. Mr Ma said the company had previously integrated the Cisco and Nortel equipment, helping Wharf T&T win the contract against other operators that used only a single equipment supplier. The system integration was done mainly by COL, an information technology service company owned by Wharf (Holdings). Wharf T&T was merged with COL in January last year and would book the HK$30 million to HK$40 million revenue from COL that year. The company said it would focus on professional services which could account for about 5 per cent of total revenue. 'Revenue from professional services will be tripled within two to three years to HK$90 million and account for about 10 per cent of total sales,' Mr Ma said. The company, which started a data centre business in Shanghai in April 2004, said it was planning to set up data centres in Beijing and Guangzhou and provide professional services to banks and financial institutions. Shares of Wharf (Holdings) fell 2.06 per cent yesterday to close at HK$28.50.
