PCCW makes $1.3bn HK listing move

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
26 September 2011 Last updated at 02:45 GMT PCCW said the spin-off will allow it to further expand its telecommunications business The Hong Kong communications firm PCCW, which is owned by the son of tycoon Li Ka-Shing, is looking to raise as much as 10bn Hong Kong dollars ($1.3bn; £829m) in a share sale.

The company said it was planning to spin off its telecom unit into a publicly traded business trust.

It comes at a time when financial uncertainty has seen many firms delay or cancel their listing in Hong Kong.

A major slice of the money raised will be used to pay off the firm's debts.

"The directors believe that the separate listing will allow the telecommunications business to create a more defined business focus and efficient resource allocation," the company said.

'Fair value'

However the company said the listing of the trust will go ahead only if its market capitalisation rose above HK$28.6bn.

Continue reading the main story

Telecoms assets are more stable in terms of their cash flows, predictability and profitability”

End Quote Christopher Wong Aberdeen Asset Management That is almost 20% more than PCCW's current market capitalisation of HK$23.8bn.

The telecoms business accounted for almost 80% of the company's total revenue for the financial year to the end of December 2010.

PCCW said that given the importance of the business unit, its separation from other businesses should translate into a higher market value.

"A separate listing... will unlock value for the shareholders and better identify and establish the fair value of the telecommunications business," PCCW said.

Analysts said the company may succeed in its efforts to get a higher valuation as investors look for safer stocks in the current financial environment.

"Telecoms assets are more stable in terms of their cash flows, predictability and profitability," Christopher Wong of Aberdeen Asset Management told the BBC.

Mr Wong explained that telecommunication had become an indispensable part of everyone's life and was one of the fastest growing sectors, making it an attractive investment option.

Mixed signals

While PCCW is optimistic of increasing the market value of its business and raise fresh capital, other companies are being cautious.

Some of China's biggest firms have pulled back or delayed their plans for listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

According to reports, XCMG Construction Machinery Co, China's biggest crane maker has decided not to go ahead with its proposed $1.1bn listing after some of the underwriters pulled out.

Last week construction machinery maker Sany Heavy Industry Co, delayed the launch of the retail portion of its $3.3bn offering and also pushed back the listing date. Xiao Nan Guo Restaurants Holding Ltd. has also scrapped a $75m Initial Public Offering.

Analysts said the current volatility in the markets had forced the companies to rethink their plans.

"The investors are trying to de-risk. As a result the companies are not going to get the valuations that they were looking for," said Mr Wong of Aberdeen Asset Management.

"The investment banks are lowering their clients' expectations and advising them to hold back on the listing."

View the original article here

Peliculas Online

Read More

Lost for 80 years, Alfred Hitchcock's Earliest Known Film Makes Its Debut

National Film Preservation Foundation

Whether it's a discovery made due to one man's hoarding or his collecting habits is unclear — either way, a gem has been uncovered in the form of Alfred Hitchcock's very first film, locked away for almost 80 years.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screened the first 30 minutes of the famed director's 1923 film “The White Shadow” on Thursday at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles. Hitchcock wrote, designed, edited and assistant-directed the film — "an atmospheric melodrama starring Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters, one angelic and the other 'without a soul'" — when he was just 24 years old.
The silent film was discovered thanks to a large treasure trove of films left by an avid collector and cinema projectionist named James Murtagh in New Zealand. The lone print was stored in a garden shed in the North Island town of Hastings, apparently for decades, until the New Zealand Film Archive got their hands on the hundreds of films in Murtagh's collection after his death in 1989.
(MORE: Unexpected Twist: Early Alfred Hitchcock Credit Found in New Zealand Archive)
How could such a rare piece of film history turn up in a small New Zealand town, of all places? The land of the Kiwis used to be the last stop on overseas distribution tours from Hollywood, and studios preferred to avoid the hassle of shipping the prints back to the States, opting to discard the films instead.
So Murtagh, who reportedly found it impossible to let go of the films he screened, amassed a rather impressive collection; he also had the only surviving copy the 1927 film “Upstream,” directed by John Ford (“The Grapes of Wrath," “Stagecoach”).
Thanks to some film preservationists and the mild climate of New Zealand, “The White Shadow” is in pretty good condition. Of course, the film buffs are all about this find. The chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, David Sterritt, explains, “These first three reels offer a priceless opportunity to study his visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape.” The film will no doubt be a must-see for students of Hitchcock's legendary techniques of suspense and mystery.

Read More