Techtronic advances after Rival Black & Decker bought

Techtronic Industries Co, the maker of Hoover vacuum cleaners and Ryobi power tools, gained the most in more than two months in Hong Kong trading after rival Stanley Works announced the purchase of Black & Decker Corp.

Techtronic climbed 7 percent, its biggest rise since August 26, to HK$6.72 in Hong Kong. The stock has more than quadrupled this year, outperforming a 48 percent advance in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

Black & Decker, maker of cordless power drills and Kwikset door locks, and Stanley, maker of FatMax tape measures and Bostitch nail guns, said they plan to expand profit margins through the transaction.

"The deal means less competition in the industry and Techtronic could benefit when the housing sector recovers," Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities Ltd in Hong Kong, said in a phone interview yesterday.

North America accounted for 75 percent of Hong Kong-based Techtronic's first-half sales, the company said on September 8.

Agile dollar bonds may be priced at about 10 percent

Agile Property Holdings Ltd's planned sale of seven-year bonds in dollars may be priced at about 10 percent, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC Holdings Plc are managing the sale of the bonds for the Hong Kong-based developer of Chinese real estate, said the person, who declined to be identified.

Hang Seng Bank sees China stocks beating Wall St

The mainland and Hong Kong stocks may outperform Wall Street in 2010, as China leads Asian economies out of the global downturn, while the US economy struggles with rising unemployment, an executive at Hang Seng Bank's fund arm said yesterday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and China Enterprises Index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong could rise to 25,000 points and 15,000 points, respectively, next year, said Clement Ho, chief investment officer of Hang Seng Investment Management Ltd. That would represent gains of around 17 to 20 percent from current levels.

"The main growth in global economies will come from Asia in the future, which will be dominated by China," Ho, whose company manages about $10.6 billion in assets, told reporters. Chinese banks and insurers will benefit the most from the country's solid economic growth and the rally in Chinese stocks, said Ho, adding that he would avoid property stocks on concerns of possible tightening in bank lending.

HKMA to issue HK$34.7b in extra Exchange Fund bills

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) yesterday said it would issue additional Exchange Fund bills this month totalling HK$34.7 billion (US$4.5 billion) to meet higher demand from banks for liquidity management.

Three-month Exchange Fund bills to be tendered on November 10, November 17 and November 24 would be increased by HK$16 billion in total, the HKMA said. Six-month bills to be offered on November 17 would be expanded by HK$6 billion, and the 12-month bills to be tendered on November 10 would be increased by HK$3.7 billion, it said. In addition, a new issue of six-month bills worth HK$9 billion would be offered on November 24 and the issue would be rolled over upon maturity, the HKMA added.

Interbank liquidity was likely to remain abundant after the issuance of additional Exchange Fund bills, which should not have a significant impact on liquidity conditions and interest rates, the HKMA said.

China Daily/Agencies

(HK Edition 11/04/2009 page4)