JAMES Ross, chief executive director of Cable & Wireless, says the group will allocate 60 to 70 per cent of its assets to develop the Southeast Asian telecom market. He says that C&W will co-operate with Hongkong Telecom to expand on the mainland, especially in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong. In the year ended March 31, 1993, C&W net asset value stood at GBP4.02 billion (about HK$46 billion). The Chinese Government is considering opening up the telecom market to foreign companies. Mr Ross says that C&W hasproposed a number of co-operative ventures to the mainland government and local authorities. These include the installation of telecom networks in major provinces to provide international telecom services, domestic mobile telecom services and mobile telephone services between Hong Kong and mainland cities.
- ECONOMIC TIMES CHEUNG Kong's land reserves are sufficient for use until the year 2000, says chairman Li Ka-shing.
He says that the company's subsidiary, Hutchison Whampoa, owns considerable investment properties and so Mr Li is not worried about the prospects for the group's property business. Commenting on mainland consortiums speculating in the Hong Kong propertymarket, Mr Li said he agreed that the Government should increase the supply of land in order to put a damper on such activities. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL A BREAKTHROUGH has been made in the legal battle between STAR TV and Wharf Cable. STAR TV announced yesterday that it is no longer insisting that Wharf implement an old agreement between the two companies and is willing to negotiate with Wharf on a new form of co-operation. Following the transfer of control to Rupert Murdoch, STAR TV reached an agreement with Wharf Cable in June of last year. Under this agreement, Wharf Cable pledged to transmit several pay-TV channels for STAR TV after its inauguration. However, Wharf refused to provide transmission services for STAR TV on the grounds that the content of the transmissions was in direct competition with the service provided by Wharf Cable. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL THE plan for a redevelopment programme for a site at 77 Broadcast Drive (the former TVB headquarters building) has been finalised. The project includes the construction of three blocks of 14 or 15-storey residential properties and will provide an estimated200 medium-sized units. The completed property is expected to have a market value of more than $1 billion. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL CHINA Light & Power will offer 30 residential units in a Tai Kok Tsui property for sale next week. The company has yet to decide on an average price for the units but property sources say the price of new residential properties in the area is more than $4,000 per square foot. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL PLAYMATES completed the purchase of Shui Hing Building on February 8, paying $1 billion. Shui Hing Building is at 23-25 Nathan Road, Kowloon. - EXPRESS NEWS FUNG Cheung, chairman of Fung Cheung Kee, says the company has three projects in Guangdong which are under development or are to be developed soon. Total investment for the three projects is $70 million. Managing director Fung Yun-tai says the company is negotiating to purchase an old industrial building in Kwun Tong for redevelopment into a combined industrial and commercial property. Property sources estimate that $100 million will be required for this project. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL HANSOM Holdings announced that its chairman, Leung Sin-kay, has reduced her stake in the company by 12.8 million shares, equivalent to six per cent of the company's issued share capital. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL RIGHTEOUS Holdings experienced a loss in profits and a reduction in operating revenues of as much as 39 per cent last year as a result of reduced spending by Japanese tourists in Hong Kong. Yeung Chiu-shing, the company's chairman, says Righteous will makean effort to improve the situation this year. He says that, in addition to the acquisition of a gold jewellery retail chain, the company plans to reduce the operating costs at its shopping centres. Mr Yeung says the company will reduce the space at a shopping mall in Whampoa Garden from 65,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet. The move will reduce mall rental costs by a third. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL RIGHTEOUS Holdings announced that its major shareholder, Yeung Shau-shing, lifted his stake in the company by 8.98 million shares (0.93 per cent of the company's issued share capital). His holdings in Righteous have increased from 28.07 per cent to 29.30 per cent. - ECONOMIC TIMES C. P. Pokphand International has informed the Stock Exchange that it bought back 4.27 million shares on February 25 at prices between $2.77 and $2.82 each. - ECONOMIC TIMES IHD Holdings bought back 250,000 shares at $2.85 per share on February 25. The cost of the purchase is reported to be $712,500. - ECONOMIC TIMES PROPERTY sources say a Thai businessman bought floor 18 of the Lippo Centre for $211 million, an average of $15,000 per square foot, from a consortium. It is the first time a single floor in the centre has been sold for more than $200 million. - ECONOMIC TIMES PACIFIC Concord bought back 316,000 shares at $3.67 per share on February 25, investing a total of $1.16 million. - ECONOMIC TIMES WINDSOR Industries bought back 200,000 shares at $12.40 each on February 25, investing a total of $2.48 million. - ECONOMIC TIMES A WAN CHAI commercial property, developed by China Resources, has attracted the interest of a number of listed companies. These companies have expressed a desire to buy the building, which is currently under construction, in its entirety - a move that would involve an investment of more than $800 million. However, China Resources has not yet decided whether to sell the property. Real estate sources say the 5,400-square-foot site at 297-307 Hennessy Road will accommodate a 23-storey commercial property. It is reported that when China Resources was first approached by a potential buyer, the offer price was $650 million. However, therecent rapid increase in the prices of office blocks has pushed offers to more than $800 million. - ECONOMIC TIMES A SPOKESMAN for Henderson Land says a total of 60 units in Block One of a residential property in Hunghom will be offered for sale on Thursday at an average price of $5,100 per square foot. - ECONOMIC TIMES FLOOR 17 of Admiralty Centre II and floor 31 of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre have been resold at $15,000 per square foot and $14,000 per square foot, respectively. The Admiralty Centre floor was sold for $158.12 million, while the Convention and Exhibition Centre floor was sold for $227.94 million. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL A COMMERCIAL property in Shanghai, partly developed by Tomson Pacific of Hong Kong, went on sale yesterday with Collier Jardine (China) as the sole property agent. - ECONOMIC TIMES
