Govt: No plans to re-launch TPS

The government has not looked into relaunching the Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS), a spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau said on Monday in response to media enquiries.

"Public rental housing (PRH) flats, once sold to the tenants, cannot be used for re-allocation. This will eventually affect the turnover of PRH flats," the spokesman added.

"Moreover, since the introduction of the TPS, the Housing Authority's estate management policies cannot be fully implemented in the TPS estates. As such, the tenants living in the TPS and PRH estates are subject to different estate management measures, thereby creating problems," the spokesman said.

China Pacific drops on sell plans

China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co, the nation's third-biggest insurer, fell the most in 10 months in Hong Kong trading after funds controlled by Carlyle Group LP sought to sell $738 million of its shares.

China Pacific closed at HK$24.20, down 10 percent, its biggest drop since September 2011.

Carlyle Holdings Mauritius Ltd and Parallel Investors Holdings Ltd are selling 220 million shares in Pacific Insurance at HK$25.50 to HK$26 a share, according to terms for the sale.

China Merchants falls as profit drops

China Merchants Holdings International Co, the investor in ports moving about a third of the nation's containers, fell the most in more than a month after predicting a "significant' drop in first-half profit.

The company tumbled nearly 6 percent to close at HK$23.80 in Hong Kong.

The lower profit was partly caused by container-making affiliate China International Marine Containers (Group) Co suffering a decline of as much as 75 percent in net income, China Merchants said in a July 20 statement. The port company's earnings a year earlier were also boosted by a HK$1.4 billion one-time gain, it said.

Reduced earnings from CIMC may cut China Merchant's net income by as much as 14 percent, analysts led by Edward Xu at Morgan Stanley said in a July 22 report to clients.

Citic Pacific: iron ore mine cost up

The cost of Citic Pacific Ltd's Sino Iron project in Western Australia has risen to about $8 billion, said Rob Cory, a spokesman for the Perth-based mining unit, confirming a report by the Australian newspaper citing chairman Dongyi Hua.

This represented a 14 percent increase from the last estimate of $7-billion at the end of 2011.

The project, China's largest mining investment, has already suffered a series of cost overruns and delays, with production at least two years behind schedule.

Stocks fall on slow mainland growth

Hong Kong stocks fell, with the Hang Seng Index falling most in two months, after a central bank adviser predicted the nation's economic growth could slow further and as the prospect of Greece leaving the euro zone resurfaced.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's largest bank, slid 5.7 percent as Greece's main creditors assess its progress on meeting bailout goals and Spain prepares to sell bonds. Citic Securities Co, China's largest brokerage by market value, lost 7.3 percent. A measure of options prices for the Hang Seng jumped the most in two months.

The Hang Seng fell 3 percent to 19053.47 at the close of trading in Hong Kong, all but erasing last week's gains. All shares but one on the 49-member gauge retreated. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies dropped 3.1 percent to 9271.60.

China Daily - Agencies

(HK Edition 07/24/2012 page2)