PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - April 14
HONG KONG, April 14 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES
-- Securities circles and fund houses predict the appreciation of the yuan will slow in the second half of the year.
APPLE DAILY
-- Shareholders of Pacific Century Premium Developments will (0432.HK) vote this Thursday to decide whether to accept the privatisation plan by parent PCCW (0008.HK). Sources said the deal might fail as 15-percent stakeholder Elliott hedged fund had asked PCCW to increase its offer but PCCW would decline.
-- A green survey has found that Hong Kong people are using more plastic bags two years after the 'no plastic bag' campaign started. The number of those bringing their own bags to shops has dropped from 30.5 percent in 2007 to 18 percent this year.
MING PAO DAILY NEWS
-- China Mobile (0941.HK) says it will try to become a minor shareholder in an international telecoms firm to gain experience overseas.
-- Cheung Kong Holdings (0001.HK) seems to be interested in collapsed Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, as it is said to have been in contact with the liquidator for the airline.
SING TAO DAILY
-- Trading of gold futures should be linked to local pricing of the precious metal instead of that of London's, according to The Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society. HKEx is prepared to launch gold futures trading in Hong Kong.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- The government is pressing ahead with plans for a 10th container terminal in southwest Tsing Yi, backed by a study it says shows that Hong Kong needs another terminal by 2015.
-- Thousands of pre-packaged food items could disappear from the city's shelves because of new nutrition labelling regulations scheduled to take effect in 2010.
THE STANDARD
-- Quarrelling between various investors led to the collapse of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines not high oil prices or a flawed business model as previously thought. Chairman Raymond Lee Cho-min wanted to keep Oasis in business, but other investors were unwilling to pour in more money after additional cash injections and wanted to pull out following repeated disagreements, sources said.
-- Net profit of energy firm CNPC (Hong Kong) dropped 20.25 percent to HK$1.37 billion last year after its newly-explored oil field failed to make any production contribution, causing total sales to fall 1.31 percent to HK$3.84 billion.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
-- The Hong Kong bourse is expected to open lower today after ADRs of heavyweights slid in the US last week.
SING PAO
-- Hong Kong and Durban are the two cities in a race to play host to the 123rd International Olympic Committee (IOC) session to be held in 2011, it was announced yesterday.
WEN WEI PO
-- Hong Kong Monetary Authority revealed that it has set directions on its work for exploring Islamic financial markets. The new initiatives include running a roadshow next month in Dubai and Jordan with the involvement by Trade Development Council, SFC and HKEx.
TA KUNG PAO
-- Both volume and value of second-hand residential property trading increased over 30 percent in the first ten days of this month compared with the same period in March.
For mainland China newspapers, see...............[PRESS/CN]
For Shanghai newspapers, see.........[PRESS/CNS]
For Taiwan newspapers, see............[PRESS/TW]
