Peter Wong to chair HSBC China

HSBC Holdings Plc appointed Peter Wong as HSBC Bank (China) Co chairman, according to an e-mailed statement on Monday.

Wong succeeded Vincent Cheng who retired as head of the subsidiary recently, the statement said.

Separately, HSBC Holdings said it had agreed to sell its unit HSBC Insurance (UK) Ltd to Syndicate Holding Corp for a total consideration of 68.5 million pounds sterling in cash.

StanChart closes S Korea branches

Standard Chartered Plc's South Korean unit said it would temporarily close about a tenth of its branches as the worst labor dispute involving a foreign bank in the nation in more than five years enters into its third week.

Standard Chartered First Bank Korea Ltd is closing 43 branches out of a total 392 in the country from on Monday, the Seoul-based lender said in a statement on its website. About half of its 6,500 employees staged a walkout from June 27 to protest against a proposed incentive-based compensation system.

Citic Resources: no decision on offer

Citic Resources Ltd hasn't yet decided whether to accept an offer from Peabody Energy Corp and ArcelorMittal to take over Macarthur Coal Ltd, Calvin Lam, investor relations head at Citic in Hong Kong, said on Monday.

Economic Times nixes dividend calls

Hong Kong Economic Times has rejected an investor's demand to increase dividend payments and said it will need cash to face rising competition in the media.

H Partners Management LLC, which holds a 14.8 percent stake in the company, said in a newspaper notice that the publisher should raise ordinary dividend payments and give a special dividend. Hong Kong Economic Times's policy on dividends is "fair" and "prudent", the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday.

Great Wall Motor sales up 39.9%

Great Wall Motor's first-half sales rose 39.9 percent from a year earlier to 238,395 units, the company said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

Stocks fall on US employment data

Hong Kong stocks fell for the first time in three trading days on Monday as the weakest US jobs growth in nine months dimmed the outlook for exporters, and as lower commodity prices drove down raw-material producers.

The Hang Seng Index (HSI) fell 1.67 percent to 22347.23 at the close, with all but two stocks declining on the 46-member gauge. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index sank 2.03 percent to 12497.32.

Stocks extended declines late in the day on concern Europe's debt crisis is worsening. Portugal's 10-year bond yield climbed to a euro-era record and German newspaper Die Welt reported the European Central Bank is seeking to have the euro-rescue fund expanded to include help for Italy.

Exporters to the US fell after reports showed the job market worsened last month. Li & Fung dropped 3.8 percent to HK$14.26, while Techtronic Industries Co lost 2.3 percent to HK$8.34. Jiangxi Copper sank 2.2 percent to HK$26.45, while Cnooc Ltd dropped 1.5 percent to HK$18.22.

Stocks also declined as companies reported worse performance in the first half. China Dongxiang tumbled 16 percent to HK$1.75.

Among stocks that rose, China Yurun Food Group Ltd gained 1.8 percent to HK$22.35 after saying it expects a "significant" increase in first-half sales and net income.

Futures on the HSI fell 2 percent to 22352. The HSI Volatility Index surged 7.3 percent to 18.19.

Bloomberg - Reuters

(HK Edition 07/12/2011 page2)