Stocks retreat to one-week low

Hong Kong stocks fell, dragging the benchmark index to a one-week low. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 percent to close at 21,079.10, the lowest close since March 5. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks the so-called H-shares of Hong Kong-listed mainland companies, retreated 1.7 percent to 11,971.49.

Shenhua fell 3.9 percent to HK$33.35, the sharpest drop on the Hang Seng Index. However, its net income climbed to 31.7 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) last year, from 26.6 billion yuan a year earlier, the company said March 12.

HSBC announces RMB trade rate

HSBC yesterday announced its HSBC RMB Trade Finance Standard Rate, the first Renminbi (RMB) trade finance standard rate in Hong Kong. The standard lending rate of 3.88 percent per annum is set with reference to current market conditions and benchmarked against the lending rates of the People's Bank of China.

HSBC has recently completed its first deal in RMB trade finance for an electronics manufacturer, who drew down an import loan of over 1 million yuan to settle a payment to a supplier on the mainland.

From now until August 31, 2010, customers who successfully apply for an HSBC trade finance loan in RMB can enjoy a preferential loan rate of 2.88 percent per annum.

Under the RMB trade settlement pilot scheme, HSBC is also the first foreign bank to settle cross-border trades in RMB in Hong Kong as well as the first bank to conduct RMB denominated trade settlement across all its ASEAN sites.

ASM Pacific adds workers on gains

ASM Pacific Technology Ltd, the world's biggest maker of semiconductor-wiring machines, may add at least 1,000 workers by the end of the third quarter and will consider mergers, Chief Executive Officer Lee Wai Kwong said yesterday.

Hong Kong-based ASM, majority-owned by ASM International NV, Europe's second-largest chip equipment maker, in February reported a 14-fold increase in fourth-quarter profit as chipmakers expand amid the global rebound.

The company has added around 1,000 employees since the third quarter of last year, Lee said. ASM had 10,700 workers at the end of 2009, according to Bloomberg data.

ICBC said to sell HK$275m in notes

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Ltd sold HK$275 million ($35 million) of floating-rate notes that mature in March 2011, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The senior unsecured notes were priced to yield 26 basis points more than the Hong Kong interbank offered rate and HSBC Holdings Plc managed the sale, the person said, without wanting to be identified, as details are private.

Waste paper recycler in $184m HK IPO

Waste paper collector and recycled tissue paper maker Fook Woo Group Holdings plans to raise up to HK$1.43 billion ($183.8 million) in an initial public offering of shares in Hong Kong, according to a term sheet obtained yesterday.

Fook Woo plans to sell 620 million shares, including 500 million primary shares and 120 million secondary shares, at an indicative price range of HK$1.68 to HK$2.30 apiece. The shares will be priced on March 24 and dealing in the shares is expected to begin on March 31, the term sheet showed. UBS and RBS are joint lead managers of the deal.

Agencies - China Daily

(HK Edition 03/16/2010 page2)