1 Chi Cheung taking on developer's role
Yvonne Liu, SCMP 31 August 2007

Chinese Estates Holdings, a mid-tier developer controlled by Joseph Lau Luen-hung, is expected to inject eight mainland and Macau properties and development projects into Chi Cheung Investment, analysts said after shares in the companies were suspended yesterday.

The injection would transform Chi Cheung, which is majority-owned by Chinese Estates, from a property investment firm focused on Hong Kong into a developer taking on mainland and Macau projects.

Chinese Estates shares were at HK$11.44 and Chi Cheung's at HK$2.96 when trading in the stocks was suspended at 9.34am yesterday.

The suspension of Chinese Estates came pending an announcement in relation to a major transaction, the company said in a notice to the stock exchange.

Chi Cheung's trading was suspended pending an announcement in relation to a substantial acquisition, a disposal and a connected transaction, as well as the issue of new shares and convertible bonds of the firm.

The suspension announcements did not provide further details.

The companies announced jointly early this month that Chinese Estates planned to inject stakes in eight projects into Chi Cheung.

The projects were to include Evergo Tower in Shanghai, Hilton Beijing, Oriental Place in Beijing, retail shops in Lowu Commercial Plaza, three residential and commercial sites in Chengdu, a commercial-residential site in Chongqing and a residential project in Macau.

Chi Cheung will issue shares and convertible bonds to Chinese Estates if the proposal is implemented.

Chinese Estates owns 61.96 per cent of Chi Cheung, which reported that first-half net profit rose 13.49 per cent to HK$47.36 million from HK$41.74 million a year ago.

2 Most strike-hit construction sites are back in action
Anita Lam and Denise Hung, SCMP 30 August 2007

The number of construction sites seriously affected by the bar-benders' strike has dropped by nearly two-thirds over the past week, a government source said.
The announcement came as many of the strikers continued to return to work.

By yesterday, work on nine projects remained at a standstill or were seriously disrupted, compared with 30 last Thursday, the source said. There are 166 construction sites in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Construction Association chairman Conrad Wong Tin-cheung said up to one-third of the affected projects belonged to small enterprises, which had been the hardest hit.

"Big developers and contractors can even out their losses as they have a large number of developments, but delays would seriously tighten the cash flow of small contractors," he said.

He said some small contractors may face closure if they had to shoulder the extra labour costs of raising the bar benders' daily wage from HK$800 to HK$950 to get them back to work. "Some developers agreed to split the burden with the contractors, but that varies greatly with different cases," he said. About one-third of the bar benders in Hong Kong were working.

The source also said the situation had stabilised as the number of bar benders at work had remained at more than 900 over the past three days, up from 600 last week.