Shui On, Redevco in 2b yuan Wuhan joint venture

Property developer Shui On Land yesterday inked a joint venture with Dutch company Redevco for a more than 2 billion yuan ($292.7 million) shopping center project in the mainland city of Wuhan and said it was in talks with a few potential strategic partners to collaborate on new projects.

Shui On, which will own half of the 100,000 square meter shopping center, said it expects to kick off construction on the project in the fourth quarter of 2010 and complete it by 2012.

The Hong Kong-based company has a land bank of 13.2 million square foot.

"We are not looking for strategic partners for just the investment but also for the expertise. Redevco's expertise is retail, similarly we will look for others who specialize in office projects or serviced apartments," said Aloysius Lee, managing director, commercial.

Huaneng Power output drops 5.84% in first half

Power output by Huaneng Power, the country's biggest power provider, fell 5.84 percent in the first half of 2009 from a year earlier, on the back of weakening power demand amid the global economic downturn, the company said yesterday.

Huaneng Power produced 86.107 billion kilowatt hours in the first half, it said in a statement.

New generating units put into operation continuously led to the decline in the average utilization hours of power generation in most of the regions where it operates, the firm said.But the declines in power generation on the mainland have been narrowing in the past several months after near double-digit falls late last year, as consumption gradually picked up, thanks to Beijing's economic stimulus policies.

Skyworth Digital aims to double LCD TV sales

The country's top color-TV maker Skyworth Digital Holdings said yesterday that its LCD TV sales should nearly double in its current fiscal year, even as overall unit sales decline, as it focuses on higher-end models.

The company expects to ship up to around 48 million LCD televisions, up sharply from the 24.76 million a year earlier as the thinner TVs gain popularity and Beijing takes steps to stimulate consumption during the global slowdown.

LCD TVs will account for more than half the 82 million total TVs the company is aiming to ship in its current fiscal year, which runs through the end of March.

China Eastern-Shanghai Air merger plan almost ready

A detailed proposal for a long-anticipated merger between locally-listed Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, which is listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, is expected to be ready next week, the official Shanghai Securities News reported yesterday, citing China Eastern chairman Liu Shaoyong.

Shares in the two money-losing carriers are likely to resume trading on Monday, the paper said, citing unnamed sources, adding that a possible merger agreement would be a share swap between the two airlines.

Nine Dragons Paper to buy back $118m senior notes

Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd yesterday said it had offered to purchase for cash all of its outstanding 7.875 percent senior notes due 2013 worth $118.57 million.

Based on current ratings, the interest rate payable on the notes on the next due date of Oct 29 would be 9.875 percent, it said in a statement.

The offer on the notes, which are listed on the Singapore Exchange, will expire at midnight New York time on Aug 6, it added.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said yesterday the rating and outlook on Nine Dragons Paper are not affected by the company's tender offer.

China Daily - Reuters

(HK Edition 07/10/2009 page3)