HONG KONG NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS – JAN 27, 2010

Highlights of today’s newspapers:

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST:

- Shopping centre operators in the city are forecasting double-digit sales growth over the Lunar New Year to be fuelled by mainland tourists continuing their buying spree.

- The Hong Kong branch of accounting giant Ernst & Young, which in September l paid US$200 million to creditors of its collapsed former client Akai Holdings, has quietly settled another audit negligence case involving a failed local company.

- Beijing has ordered several banks to increase their reserve ratios, taking another step to curb a mainland lending spree as policymakers worry about asset bubbles and looming inflation.

- Just as Rusal starts trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange today, it has also upped the ante in the escalating row with Guinea over claims that the Russian aluminium giant owes it substantial damages.

- Jia Sheng Holdings soared to a 6-1/2 year high yesterday after the small-cap financial services company stirred up a buying frenzy by announcing that Li Ka-shing had acquired a minority stake.

- Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group will produce as many as 300,000 Volvo cars a year at a new factory in Beijing as part of its plan to turn the Swedish brand profitable by next year.

- Hong Kong’s exports recorded a second month of year-on-year growth in December after a year in decline, and economists expect more of the same as long as the US and European markets continue to strengthen.

- Compulsory en bloc acquisition of units in old and neglected blocks in Hong Kong for redevelopment could be sped up by policy changes the government is proposing in a bid to get rid of buildings that pose “a serious threat to public safety”.

THE STANDARD:

- Hong Kong stocks slumped for the fifth straight session yesterday, dropping 2.38 percent to close at its lowest in four months on continuing concern about liquidity outflows.

- Investors’ appetite for new listings turned weaker amid market volatility as many subscriptions were canceled, brokerages said.

- Assets under management of exchange- traded funds in Hong Kong are set to continue growing by 30 to 40 percent this year as the ETF market keeps expanding, according to fund provider State Street Global Advisors.

- The strong pick-up in the residential market eased during the fourth quarter of last year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said.

- Hong Kong’s falling unemployment rate has helped boost the confidence of local consumers and investors, two surveys show.

- HSBC Holdings (0005) relocated its chief executive from London back to Hong Kong yesterday as senior bankers around the world flocked to Davos, Switzerland for their annual forum.