Cheung Kong pays HK$9b for HK site

Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd, the developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, paid HK$9.63 billion ($1.2 billion), more than a third above estimates, for a building site atop a railway station in the city's northwest.

The government's Tsuen Wan West Station project, with 2.24 million square feet of buildable residential and commercial space, was expected to fetch HK$7 billion, according to the median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The price signals confidence among the city's developers that demand will stay strong because of low interest rates even as new Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying pledged to boost supply to bridge a widening wealth gap and rein in home prices that have become increasingly unaffordable for the general public. Property prices in Hong Kong have risen 7 percent this year.

The government received six bids for the tender, it said on Aug 8.

Meilan to plan first dual-currency IPO

Meilan International Holdings Ltd, a Chinese chemical producer, plans to raise more than $100 million in what may be Hong Kong's first dual-currency initial public offering, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

Meilan, based in Taizhou city, Jiangsu province, has submitted an application to Hong Kong's stock exchange and may conduct the offering in the fourth quarter, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The company may offer two tranches, one denominated in Hong Kong dollars and the other in yuan, they said.

A dual-currency offering will test demand for yuan-denominated investments in Hong Kong, where deposits have decreased as the appreciation of the Chinese currency slowed.

The People's Bank of China, which sets the yuan's exchange rate daily, fixed it at the weakest since November on Friday.

Sinopec plans low-sulfur fuel for ships

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, the country's largest fuel supplier, plans to supply low-sulfur shipping fuel at Chinese ports as ships sailing to the US and Canada are required to burn the cleaner fuel.

Sinopec, as China Petroleum is known, is arranging barges, tanks and pipelines to supply shipping fuel, or bunker, containing 1 percent sulfur, Zhou Yiqing, the vice manager of the bunker department at Sinopec Fuel Oil Sales Co, said in an interview by telephone. The company will start with "big" ports, he said, without elaborating.

Ships sailing in US and Canadian waters are required to use bunker fuel with a maximum sulfur content of 1 percent starting this month under air-pollution standards set out by the North American Emission Control Area. Vessels outside the controlled areas can use bunker with a maximum sulfur content of 3.5 percent.

Stocks fall on weak China trade

Hong Kong stocks fell from a three-month high as mainland's trade grew less than economists expected, adding to signs of a deeper slowdown in the world's second- biggest economy.

China Cosco Holdings Co, the mainland's largest-listed shipping line by market value, slid 2.3 percent. Li & Fung Ltd plunged by a record as less spending by US and European shoppers drove down core operating profit at the supplier to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd slumped 8.2 percent after the maker of solar panel equipment said it's likely to report its first loss since 2009.

The Hang Seng Index lost 0.7 percent to 20136.12 in Hong Kong after yesterday rising to the highest close since May 9.

Futures on the Hang Seng Index fell 0.1 percent to 20164.

Bloomberg

(HK Edition 08/11/2012 page2)