CITIC Pacific chairman Larry Yung Chi-kin said after the opening ceremony of a Dah Chong Hong service centre yesterday that the falling stock market and increasing interest rates would not affect the group, because its gearing ratio was a low 17 per cent.
'During the 1980s profit margins were high for a couple of years. I think the profit now is very reasonable.' He said Dah Chong Hong - the car trading arm of CITIC Pacific - had no plans to float so speculation that the process had been delayed because of a plunge in the stock market was unfounded.
He said car sales had dropped slightly since the Government announced a package of anti-congestion measures in August.
However, because sales in the first half of the year were good, sales only dropped two per cent during the whole year.
He said it was difficult to comment on the full impact at this stage until the Government's long-term policy on vehicles was understood.
Dah Chong Hong yesterday opened a $500 million service centre in Ap Lei Chau.
