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Ben Kwok

Just to clarify, forget what the top executives said
One country, two systems, three clarifications.
Three dual-listed companies issued clarification statements to the Hong Kong and  mainland stock exchanges this week   for chatter during the  Communist Party congress.
Bank of Communications  yesterday resumed trading after being suspended for a day because chairman Jiang Chaoliang  told reporters on Tuesday that net profit for the bank was expected to hit 20 billion yuan  by the end of the year, up 63 per cent from last year.
Bocom confirmed the chairman  made the  forecast at a breakout session at the  congress but played down the projection as simply 'a performance target based on the country's economic growth and operating results of the bank'.
It 'stressed that the forum where the statements were made was not a press conference and hence it should not be regarded as a formal public disclosure of the bank'.
That looked like an interesting excuse but one that was good enough in the eyes of our perspicacious regulator.
China Citic Bank  was lucky not to be suspended after vice-chairman Chang Zhenming (above) and vice-chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission Jiang Dingzhi  both confirmed  the bank may buy a stake in Bear Stearns.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, China Citic said it had not entered into any deals with Bear Stearns and that it did not plan to buy the US brokerage's shares for at least the next three months.
Similarly, Angang Steel  chairman Zhang Xiaogang  told reporters that his firm was expected to make 12.5 billion in profits on sales of 80 billion yuan.  That represents a 76 per cent growth in profit compared with last year.
The firm later clarified that these figures were not 'true and accurate' and it had not authorised any person to make any representation on the projected figure.
It was nice to see that many  state-owned executives have become more  open  about their companies.  However, perhaps  it may have been better for them to hold their tongues.
It's still no comment
PR maven and bombshell Joan Wagner  bids farewell to PCCW after eight years.
Known as much for her hair as for the length of tenure with the famously demanding Prince Richard Li Tzar-kai, Ms Wagner will retire at the end of the month and move to Tokyo with her own Prince Charming - Mark Norbom,  who last week was introduced as the new president and chief executive of GE Japan.
She has stuck with the company through thick and thin, joining the dotcom in 1999 - which would make her responsible for much of the media hype that fuelled the rise, rise, and rise of the PCCW share price. Then it went completely upside down for the next seven years and as they  say, there  is never a boring day at PCCW.
A friend  said: 'She has had an amazing time but a few months in a Japanese onsen with the mobile phone off was impossible to resist.'
About the resignation, Ms Wagner - for the millionth time in her career - told the  South China Morning Post: 'No comment'.
Swire hits the ton
Congratulations to Swire Pacific, which yesterday became the 12th stock  in the bourse to hit HK$100.
The British hong made history on the day when the Hang Seng Index broke 30,000 points.  Still far from being a China concept stock, Swire is up only 20 per cent  year to date, compared with a 44 per cent  gain for the  blue-chip index.
The stock was long expected to hit a three-digit target  as major shareholder John Swire & Sons  has been increasing its stake since the summer of last year at about  the HK$80 level.
Who's next on the list? We have spotted Wing Hang Bank  is only 10 per cent away, followed by H share Anhui Conch Cement  and Hutchison Whampoa in the  mid-HK$80 range.
This year, Wing Hang Bank has been flat while Hutchison is up only 8 per cent.  Anhui Conch has risen 234 per cent  and based on the momentum, could cross the line pretty soon.



Lai See