Li Ka-shing said on Tuesday the earnings from his ports-to-telecoms conglomerate fell 53%, mostly due to the absence of any sizable asset sales last year.
Hutchison Whampoa reported a net profit of 26.1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($3.4 billion) in 2012, while revenue rose 4% to 398.4 billion Hong Kong dollars ($51.2 billion).
Hutchison had spun off its port assets in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province in the previous year, boosting the company’s bottom line with an additional 44.3 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Li’s flagship company Cheung Kong, the parent of Hutchison, also reported that net profit fell 30% to 32.2 billion Hong Kong dollars on the weakened earnings from its main subsidiary and a slowdown in property sales. Turnover from Cheung Kong’s real estate business dropped by 30% to 26.5 billion Hong Kong dollars as fewer projects were completed in 2012.
“During the year, residential property prices in Hong Kong maintained their rising trend on the back of solid demand from end users and tougher measures were introduced by the Hong Kong government to curb the residential property market,” Li said in a statement.
“With the exception of our joint venture VodafoneHutchison Australia (VHA), all major operating divisions reported steady or increased recurring earnings.”
Hutchison booked a loss of 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars on the company’s share of VHA’s operating loss and network closure costs and restructuring costs. Canning Fok, Hutchison’s managing director, had earlier said that VHA was pursuing a turnaround plan, but “continuing losses are anticipated in 2013.”
Read more at
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertolsen/2013/03/26/asias-richest-man-says-profit-fell-by-half-last-year/
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