New mortgage loans up 0.1%

New mortgage loans approved in Hong Kong grew by only 0.1 percent to HK$37.8 billion in May 2010 compared with April, while new mortgage loans drawn down in the same period increased by 12.7 percent to HK$28.9 billion, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in its "Residential Mortgage Survey Results for May 2010".

The report said that during May, new loan approvals for primary market transactions were little changed at HK$4.7 billion. Approvals for secondary market transactions fell by HK$1 billion, while approvals for refinancing loans increased by HK$1.1 billion. The number of new applications dropped by 11.1 percent to 20,283.

AA, HLD arrange syndicated loans

Airport Authority Hong Kong announced in a press statement Monday that it has successfully self-arranged a five-year, HK$5 billion revolving credit facility with 14 local and international banks. The loan was priced at the cost of 50 basis points over Hong Kong Inter-Bank Offered Rate (HIBOR), representing the lowest interest rate paid by a Hong Kong borrower since the financial tsunami in 2008. The syndicated loan will be used to refinance maturing debt and for general working capital purposes.

Meanwhile, blue-chip property developers Henderson Land Development Co said it will borrow HK$13.25 billion from a group of banks to finance a five-year term loan and revolving credit.

StanChart: H1 revenue to grow

Standard Chartered Plc, the British bank that earns most of its profit in Asia, said first-half revenue for 2010 will rise at a "double digit" rate as earnings from consumer and corporate banking increase.

Revenue gained when compared with the last six months of 2009, the London-based bank said in an emailed statement on Monday. It was "broadly flat" compared with the first six months of last year.

Net interest margin, which measure banks' profitability from lending, has "fallen fractionally" compared with 2009, Standard Chartered said.

Net income at Standard Chartered rose to $3.38 billion last year from $3.24 billion in 2008.

Stocks rise 1st time in 3 days

Hong Kong shares rose on Monday thanks to gains of so-called red-chip stocks and local properties.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 35.89 points, or 0.17 percent, to end at 20,726.68 points, after trading between a day high of 20,862.38 and a day low of 20,687.27 points.

Turnover totaled HK$45.04 ($5.79 billion) compared with last Friday's HK$51.46.

The properties sub-index, which covers 7 constituent stocks of the blue-chip Hang Seng Index, also added 130.40 points, or 0.5 percent, to finish at 26,460.42 points.

Mainland telecom giant China Unicom was the best-performing blue chip of the day. Its shares jumped 4.68 percent to HK$10.74 after the company posted stronger-than-expected 3G subscriber growth as it added over one million subscribers last month.

ICBC, the world's largest commercial bank by market value, edged up 0.34 percent to 5.89 HK dollars. Bank of China rose 0.25 percent to HK$4.07.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the third largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, lost 0.33 percent to 75.05 HK dollars.

Agencies

(HK Edition 06/29/2010 page3)