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Strategies & Market Trends : HONG KONG -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tony van Werkhooven who wrote (1245)	1/29/1998 11:12:00 AM
From: ----------	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2951

Here are the results: The bank's chairman and chief executive David Li said the exceptional loss of HK$172.9 million stemmed from its Asian exposure which was hit hard by the currency turmoil. Among the losses, HK$90.5 million was for a Thai stock brokerage currently in liquidation, HK$47 million was for a South Korea merchant bank and HK$35.3 million was its exposure to Peregrine Investment Holdings Ltd. 'The amount written off for the South Korean merchant bank was only half of our investment there because the merchant bank is still operating,' said Mr Li. Peregrine has been placed under liquidation on January 12. The bank had 11.3% of its assets in Asia outside Hong Kong and China but derived only 3.4% of its net profit from it. Li said the bank had nine months of good performance last year until the currency turmoil hit Hong Kong and the inter-bank market rates started to move up. The bank's net interest margin was down to 2.75% in 1997, from 2.97% in 1996. He described this year as a challenging one and anticipated further decline in property values. The property price in Hong Kong has declined for more than 20% since the onset of the currency upheavals late last year. But he was optmistic that the second half would provide a more benign operating environment. 01-26-98 Bank of East Asia Ltd. - Hong Kong Year Dec. 31: 1997 1996 After-Tax Profit HK$2,083,103,000 HK$1,879,530,000 Op Pft After Provisions 2,425,560,000 2,115,700,000 Exceptional Item (172,881,000) 28,273,000 Per Share Earnings 1.56 1.43 Full-Yr Div 72.5 cents 66.7 cents Figures in parentheses are losses.