PCCW's plans in focus as H1 results loom
Reuters
bday.net
HONG KONG ? Hong Kong's former phone monopoly, PCCW, faces pressure to detail plans for coping with shrinking market share and disenchanted investors when it announces first-half results tomorrow.
PCCW is expected to report its net profit, excluding one-time gains, rose 12.5 percent on lower costs such as interest expenses.
But profits are expected to dip in the current half versus the first six months due to seasonal costs and heightened competition. Company watchers will be looking for signs that PCCW, controlled by Richard Li, son of Asia's richest businessman, Li Ka-shing, intends to pay its first-ever dividend as an enticement to counter its slow profit growth.
They will also be hoping for news on its negotiations with China Netcom, China's number-two fixed-line carrier, which is looking to buy a stake in PCCW to bolster its south China operations.
Yesterday, PCCW said the Netcom talks, first disclosed in May, are at an "advanced stage".
Many analysts believe Netcom will buy a stake ? possibly a controlling one ? in PCCW, with the two firms then teaming up to offer services in south China through a joint venture.
PCCW is also expected to highlight the progress of its new broadband services in countering its loss of fixed-line customers.
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