PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - May 12

HONG KONG, May 12 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

APPLE DAILY

-- Goldman Sachs has raised its target price on HSBC Holdings (0005.HK) by 52.7 percent in its latest report, from HK$55 to HK$84 each.

SING TAO DAILY

-- Stock market watchdog the Securities and Futures Commission and related parties held a meeting last week on paperless securities activities, and research is expected to lead to an initial proposal in June this year.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- Two-thirds of passenger flights between Hong Kong and Taiwan will be replaced by direct cross-strait flights following the full implementation of the "three direct links" between the mainland and Taiwan, a study by a policy think-tank has concluded.

THE STANDARD

-- The potential deposit market for Hong Kong banks has doubled as they will be allowed to open sub-branches in Guangdong province without going through a lengthy approval process, analysts said on Tuesday. The new condition was proposed under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) trade pact supplement.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL

-- Pacific Century Regional Developments (PCEN.SI), the holding company of PCCW (0008.HK), has decided to take the overturned corporate privatisation case to the Final Court of Appeal for judgment. The Court of Appeal released the content of its ruling on Monday, which contained judges' comments about vote-buying and manipulating.

HONG KONG DAILY NEWS

-- China CITIC Bank Corp (601998.SS) has taken the first step in reorganising the group's financial service operations after a major stake buy into its parent's assets. Subsidiary CITIC Ka Wah Bank in Hong Kong will, in the long term, change its name to reflect its international services.

SING PAO

-- HSBC Holdings (0005.HK) further offloaded its holding in Visa International and recorded a one-time gain of HK$225 million in the first quarter. The banking giant reported a higher-than-expected pre-tax profit for the first quarter, of US$614 million. This compared with a loss in the same quarter a year earlier.

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