PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - Nov 17
HONG KONG, Nov 17 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
- CLP Power hopes to begin work on an additional gas-fired generation unit in the second half of next year as it aims to meet the government's future electricity mix for 2020. CLP estimates one more unit is needed to meet the government's target of having 50 percent of the city's electricity coming from natural gas generation in five years, Managing Director Paul Poon said. (http://bit.ly/1H5nTz7)
- Five former directors at Chinese conglomerate Citic Ltd signed off on a "demonstrably untrue" exchange filing that failed to disclose a "material" loss stemming from ill-judged foreign exchange hedging contracts, Hong Kong's market misconduct tribunal heard on the opening day of a month-long hearing that will raise questions about director accountability at listed companies. (http://bit.ly/1NXKmzw)
- Citigroup forecasts that Hong Kong home prices will revive and continue to hold up next year, going against property experts' prediction of a 5 to 10 percent decline in the residential market, amid an expected increase in housing supply. Citigroup argued that prices might rise by 3 percent next year due to solid fundamentals in local housing market. (http://bit.ly/1OcwEqD)
THE STANDARD
- About one-third of sweet drinks served at Chinese restaurants, hotpot restaurants and supermarkets could be sugar bombs, says a joint study by the Consumer Council and Centre for Food Safety. (http://bit.ly/1X3nNtA)
- Net interim profit of cosmetics manufacturer and retailer L'Occitane International slumped 47 percent to 20.1 million euros ($21.5 million) from a year earlier after it suffered a huge foreign currency loss of 9.59 million euros as the U.S. dollar strengthened against the euro. Its sales in Hong Kong and Macau fell 12 percent due to weak market sentiment. (http://bit.ly/1PwYqBs)
- Hong Kong residents can start subscribing to two billion yuan ($314 million) worth of Beijing treasury bonds from Monday, but sales are tipped to be lacklustre. The Ministry of Finance said it would issue 14 billion worth of yuan-denominated treasury bonds in Hong Kong, of which notes worth two billion yuan will be sold to locals and the remainder to institutions. (http://bit.ly/1QrmBBj)
HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES
- UMP Healthcare Holdings Ltd, which operates 600 medical services centres in Hong Kong and Macau, plans to issue about HK$400 million ($51.6 million) worth of shares in initial public offering in the city, raising capital to fund its expansion in China.
For Chinese newspapers, see............... ($1 = 0.9355 euros) ($1 = 6.3700 Chinese yuan renminbi) ($1 = 7.7505 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
