The Week That Was

Sunday PROPERTY group Lai Sun Development (LSD) says it will demolish the 500-room Furama Hotel in 2001 and redevelop it into an office, retail and hotel complex. The HK$2.15 billion project will be paid by LSD's subsidiary, Lai Sun Hotels International, which earlier sold a 49 per cent stake in the Four Seasons Hotel in New York for US$140 million. (SCMP) THE tough retail market has not deterred upmarket leather goods retailer Louis Vuitton Malletier from opening a 6,600-square-foot regional flagship store in Central. Company president Yves Carcelle says the group is taking advantage of sharply fallen rents. He says cheap Shenzhen counterfeits have failed to drive away its customers. (SCMP) LONDON-listed entertainment group Pacific Media is looking to sell its 49.9 per cent stake in Hong Kong Supernet, the SAR's third-largest Internet service provider. While Singapore-based Pacific Internet, which already owns the remaining 50.1 per cent of Supernet, seems to be the front-runner, other companies, including Deutsche Telekom, are also interested in buying the stake. (SCMP) Tuesday THE US dollar rises to more than 118 against the yen after the Bank of Japan and Ministry of Finance officials say a weak yen is beneficial to Japan's weak economy and will be accepted by the big-seven industrialised nations. The yen is also under pressure after the ministry announces it will repurchase 400 billion yen (about HK$25.68 billion) worth of government bonds from the market.

(Apple Daily) HUTCHISON Whampoa's British telecoms arm, Orange, denies a report saying it plans to acquire a controlling stake in German mobile telephone company E-Plus, involving up to GBP1.5 million (about HK$18.94 billion).

(Apple Daily) HSBC Holdings' share price rises about 56 pence (HK$7.07), or 3.3 per cent, in London after British-based Barclays Bank announces it has recorded a 19 per cent rise in net profit, reflecting the British banking industry's insulation from the Asian economic slowdown. The news has sent the three largest British banks' share prices up by between 2 and 6.6 per cent. (Apple Daily) Wednesday CHINA National Aviation managing director Wan Guaixiang reveals the company will cut its investment in the Dragon Air-China Airlines headquarters to $1.1 billion because of changes in market conditions. The office space will be reduced to about 270,000 square feet. (Oriental Daily) GUANGZHOU'S vice-mayor Shen Bainian says for a second time he is prepared to let Guangzhou International Trust and Investment Corp go bankrupt, if the company's capital is considerably lower than its debt. This contradicts the company's earlier statement to creditors saying it will be restructured and kept afloat. (SCMP) A DBS Securities report estimates up to 6.1 million people would visit a Disney theme park if one was built in Hong Kong. While this is expected to boost the economy significantly and benefit airlines and developers, hotel occupancy rates would not necessarily increase, as thousands of three-star hotel rooms are expected to be built. (SCMP) GROSBEAK, a Hutchison Whampoa unit, has been named the preferred bidder in the privatisation of Indonesia's state-owned ports industry. Hutchison, the world's largest container-port operator with a 10 per cent share of global container traffic, will form a joint-venture with state-owned port company Pelindo II to operate and manage two container terminals in north Jakarta for 20 years. (SCMP) Thursday SING Tao Holdings says chairman Sally Aw Sian's agreement with China Enterprise Development Fund (CEDF) on a stake sale in Sing Tao lapsed on Monday. CEDF says it has agreed to defer the deal's completion date, and is negotiating with different parties to invest in Sing Tao in alternative ways. The deal is subject to approval by Ms Aw's court-appointed asset receiver. (Oriental Daily) US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin rejects European suggestions to limit fluctuations between the world's top currencies by linking them more closely. He says sound economic policies and not efforts to set up currency target zones are the keys to stabilising volatile foreign exchange markets. His remarks reflect the deep division between the world's leading economies on global currency fluctuations. (SCMP) DUTCH insurer Aegon announces its intention to acquire US Transamerica for US$9.7 billion, creating the second largest life insurance company in the US. Aegon says it is paying a 35.4 per cent premium over the previous closing price of Transamerica shares, and will take on the company's $1.1 billion debt. (SCMP) DESPITE opposition from the Securities and Futures Commission, sources say the Government will go ahead with moves to increase the Chief Executive's power over the stock and futures markets, to allow quick reaction in severe market conditions such as speculative currency attacks. The commission is understood to have said the moves are unnecessary and may damage Hong Kong's reputation as a free market.

(SCMP) Friday THE yen slides against the US dollar, but Japanese officials remain calm. Speculation grows that Tokyo and Washington want a weaker yen to help drag Japan out of recession. In Tokyo the yen falls to 120.75 against the dollar, its lowest point since December 2. (SCMP) ON the first day of trading after the Lunar New Year break, Hong Kong stock exchange chairman Lee Hon-chui says he believes the worst is over for the SAR's equity market. 'We have experienced and gone through many hardships in the Year of the Tiger. I very much hope everything will proceed smoothly and stably in the Year of the Rabbit.' (SCMP)