A senior reporter at the South China Morning Post takes a look at one of the hottest topics in the business world: company profits
Many of Hong Kong's top companies are opening their books this week to tell investors how much money they've made or lost last year and what their plans are for the coming year.
Some of them are delivering good news, and investors will rush to buy their shares in the hope that the good times will continue. Others are likely to disappoint and deliver results below what analysts had forecast, prompting fickle investors to go hunting for a better deal.
HSBC warned investors last month that it had lost money lending to US homeowners, and on Monday it gave more details on how it plans to fix the problem. The bank, an important part of Hong Kong's business history, says it is going back to focusing on what it knows best, and one of those things is banking in Asia.
Some of the big names yet to report their earnings include Cathay Pacific, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Swire Pacific, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and Bank of Communications.
Last week Standard Chartered reported strong profit growth, but warned that profits would be weaker in the future as they spend more money on expanding their business globally. Earnings season gives investors a good overall view of the economy as well as a look at individual companies.
