Chong Hing net income jumps

Chong Hing Bank Ltd more than doubled full-year net income to HK$476 million, according to a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange from the company Wednesday.

Dragonair to boost mainland flights

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd's Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd unit will increase flights to Taiwan and mainland cities on rising travel demand.

The carrier will increase services to Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan to six flights a day from March 27, Dragonair said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. On the mainland, Xiamen services will rise to four a day and Ningbo flights will increase to 10 a week, it said. The airline will also boost capacity or flights to Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing and Hangzhou.

Hang Seng CEO: US rates to remain low

Hang Seng Bank Ltd Chief Executive Officer Margaret Leung said US interest rates are likely to remain low this year, and that will keep rates down in Hong Kong as well.

It's "difficult" to say if there's a property bubble in Hong Kong, she said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Wednesday. Property prices have gone up "a lot", she said.

China Railway Libya projects suspended

China Railway, the country's biggest railroad builder, said it was suspending its three projects in Libya as it evacuates workers due to escalating violence in the African nation.

The total contract value of the three rail projects is $4.24 billion, of which $3.55 billion worth of construction has not been completed, the firm said on Tuesday.

The contract value of the uncompleted work in Libya accounts for 2.3 percent of its overall portfolio of unfinished jobs. The firm won bids in 2008 to build a 352-kilometer west-to-east coastal railway and a south-to-west railway that would facilitate the transportation of iron ore from the southern city Sebha to Misurata.

Its third project is a 172-kilometer railway that extends from Tripoli, Libya's capital, to the key Ras Jedeir port in the west, the firm said.

Evergrande predicts net income rise

Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd's net income for the year ended Dec 31 may have a "significant increase" from a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Wednesday, without giving details.

Shimao to issue $350m notes

Shimao Property Holdings Ltd said on Wednesday it would issue $350 million senior notes due 2018, raising capital to finance redemption of a floating rate note and to repay other debt.

In a filing with the Hong Kong bourse, the Chinese property developer said proceeds would also be used to finance existing and new property development projects, and to enhance liquidity.

The notes will carry an interest rate of 11 percent per annum payable semi-annually. Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered Bank are handling the issue.

Speculation 'closely' monitored: HKMA

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is monitoring speculation in the housing market "very closely", deeming asset-price increases the biggest threat to the city's economy, Deputy Chief Executive Eddie Yue said.

The authority and the government are reviewing policy "regularly" after stepping up efforts to curb housing prices that have risen more than 60 percent since the start of 2009, Yue said Wednesday in an interview at a conference in New York. Housing rentals make up 26 percent of the local consumer price index, which gained 3.6 percent in January. The government forecasts consumer prices will increase 4.5 percent in 2011, up from 2.4 percent last year.

Bloomberg - Reuter

(HK Edition 03/03/2011 page2)