PCCW, iCable shares surge after free-TV licence wins

Investors flocked to PCCW and iCable Communications in trading yesterday, boosting the two companies' shares after their success in obtaining new free-to-air television licences.

Hong Kong Television Network, in contrast, saw its shares get hammered as the firm returned empty-handed from its four-year quest to compete in the industry long dominated by TVB.

Shares of PCCW, the media and telecommunications giant controlled by Richard Li Tzar-kai, rose 4.6 per cent to close at HK$3.64, which they last reached on June 4. A Barclays report said: "A free-to-air television licence … will open up another revenue stream for PCCW." It expected PCCW affiliate HK Entertainment Television Company to complement the operations of leading pay-TV service Now TV.

But it was iCable that posted the most impressive gains yesterday. Its shares surged 155.32 per cent to finish at HK$1.20 - the stock's highest close since it recorded HK$1.23 on June 14, 2010.

iCable affiliate Fantastic Television plans to invest more than HK$1 billion in the first six years of its free-to-air TV operations.

Over at HKTV, shares fell 33.88 per cent to close at HK$2.03. It was a different story on Tuesday, when the company's shares climbed 28.45 per cent to finish at HK$3.07 just before the government announced its decision on the licencees.