By AFP | Mar 30, 2010
Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa reports 12 pct rise in profits
Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa said Tuesday net profit rose 12 percent last year, as gains from property sale and the sale of assets more than offset losses at its energy and 3G technology units.
The port-to-telecoms conglomerate, headed by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, said in a statement to the city's stock exchange that net profit was 14.17 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.8 billion US) in 2009, up from 12.68 billion dollars in 2008.
The result was lower than the average forecast for a net profit of 15.54 billion dollars in a poll of six analysts by Dow Jones Newswires.
The group's total revenue dropped 14 percent to 300.55 billion dollars, mainly because of a business slump at its Canada-listed affiliate Husky Energy resulted from sharp declines in oil and gas prices last year, it said.
And income at its ports division dived 16 percent due to lower trading activity amid the global financial crisis, the statement said.
Losses in its third-generation technology operations slumped 67 percent to 5.28 billion dollars, primarily due to the merger of its 3 Australia with the Australian unit of British mobile phone giant Vodafone.
Li said in the statement that its 3G results were expected to improve and make a positive contribution to earnings.
The company was one of the world's first to introduce 3G mobile business and has operations in Italy, Britain, Ireland, Australia, Sweden, Denmark and Austria.
The group's earnings have been dragged down since 2003 due to the cost of the 3G business.But last year's losses were partially offset by a 50 percent jump in profits from the completion and sales of several residential projects.
The gains also came from a 12.47 billion Hong Kong dollar total profit from the disposal of investments including its equity interest in three power plants in mainland China and its telecoms assets in Israel and Indonesia.
Li said the company performed satisfactorily despite the challenging conditions last year and its operations "are well placed to benefit from a recovering economic environment."
"Although there remain many elements of uncertainty in the global economy in 2010, the group will continue to invest to expand its core businesses."Li, 81, was ranked as the 14th wealthiest person in the world by the Forbes magazine rich list in March, with a net worth of 21 billion dollars.He was the only Hong Kong tycoon to make the top 20 in the list.
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