PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - Aug 5

HONG KONG, Aug 5 (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.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES

-- HSBC Holdings (0005.HK) reported a 29 percent decline in half-year net profit to US$7.722 billion. The amount was near the lower end of market estimates, and was the largest interim decline since 2002.

-- Beijing has so far spent more than 300 billion yuan ($43.79 billion) on organising the Olympic Games. Much of the investment was in infrastructure and facilities.

APPLE DAILY

-- Analysts say earnings of rail firm MTR Corp (0066.HK) are set to decline for the first half of the year less amounts from property valuations, as no major real estate items would enter its books.

-- Reports say Temasek [TEM.UL], the Singapore government's investment arm, has no intention to bid for the 45 percent stake in Hong Kong Telecom owned by PCCW (0008.HK).

SING TAO DAILY

-- Dragged by exposure in Vietnam, HSBC reported a surprise decline of eight percent in pre-tax earnings to US$3.073 billion for its Hong Kong operations in the first half of the year.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has weighed into the controversy surrounding the employment of retired housing chief Leung Chin-man by New World Development's (0017.HK) mainland property arm. Tsang issued a statement on Monday night ordering a report to be submitted by the Civil Service Bureau on how the whole case was handled.

THE STANDARD

-- Police are reassessing Hong Kong's security level after a suspected terrorist attack reportedly killed 16 policemen and wounded 16 others in Xinjiang.

WEN WEI PO

-- Bank of East Asia (0023.HK) is set to announce its interim results on Tuesday. The bank is expected to report a profit drop of between 6.3 percent and 20 percent.

TA KUNG PAO