New sites offered for sale at govt land auction

The Lands Department announced Friday that auction of a site at Area 19, Sha Tau Kok Road, Fanling, Fanling Sheung Shui Town Lot No 177, has been successfully triggered under the Application List System.

The lot will be offered for sale at this financial year's second Government land auction on May 24.

A Lands Department spokesman said that the government has accepted the applicant's minimum guaranteed bid of $1,053.80 million for the lot. This will be the opening bid at the auction subject to the reserve price of the lot.

Fanling Sheung Shui Town Lot No.177 has a site area of about 8,900 square metres and is designated for non-industrial (excluding office, godown, hotel and petrol filling station) purposes. A minimum gross floor area of 34,290 square metres must be completed.

The final Conditions of Sale for the lot will be available for distribution and uploaded onto the Lands Department's website by May 7, when the particulars of the land auction will also be gazetted.

China Power returns to profit

China Power International Development Ltd, a unit of the country's fifth-biggest electricity producer, returned to profit last year as a surging economy increased power demand.

Net income reached 519 million yuan ($76 million), or 0.14 yuan a share, compared with a loss of 689.3 million yuan, or 0.19 yuan a share, the previous year, the utility said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday. Sales climbed to 10.9 billion yuan last year from 9.63 billion yuan in 2008, according to the statement. Generating capacity rose 48 percent to 10.4 gigawatts in 2009.

Prudential seeks HK IPO hearing

Britain's Prudential Plc aims to have its Hong Kong share offering plan reviewed by exchange officials, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, as it pushes ahead with the listing before a key fundraising for its $35.5 billion takeover of American International Assurance Co (AIA). Hong Kong-traded shares will give Prudential more shareholders across the globe as it prepares the crucial rights offering needed for the AIA acquisition. Because Prudential is only allowing its shares to trade on the Hong Kong exchange, rather than pricing a standard stock offering, the listing is expected to happen soon after it receives approval. The sources warned that the timing of the listing and of other key events associated with Prudential's $35.5 billion takeover of American International Group's Asian life insurance unit is subject to change. Prudential's Hong Kong spokesman declined to comment.

Swire Properties gets HKEx nod for $3 billion IPO

Swire Properties, a property arm of conglomerate Swire Pacific has received approval from the listing committee of Hong Kong's stock exchange for a $3 billion initial public offering, a source close to the deal said Friday. Swire Properties is set to launch its two-week marketing campaign next week and plans to kick off a road show on April 26 with trading in the shares scheduled to begin on May 14, the source said, adding that the Hong Kong retail public offering will start from May 3 to May 6. The company is awaiting official confirmation from the regulator, the source said. Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Morgan Stanley are underwriting the Swire Properties deal.

Agencies - China Daily

(HK Edition 04/17/2010 page3)