Hong kong newspaper highlights - dec 7, 2009

July 27, 2015

Author: De Tai

HONG KONG, Dec 07, 2009 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- SCHPY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Highlights of today's newspapers: SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: - Hong Kong-listed utility China Gas Holdings is in talks to sell a stake in its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidiary, Shanghai PetroPower, to the mainland's largest oil producer. - The appeal by Dubai World for a freeze on repayment of at least US$26.5 billion in debt will likely prompt some Hong Kong brokerages to rethink the promotion of investments in the Middle East, according to observers. - The Asia-Pacific region would continue to be a key contributor to the earnings of global banking group HSBC (SEHK: 0005, announcements, news), forecast Peter Wong Tung-shun, who takes over responsibility for running the group's operations in the region on February 1 next year. - Oleg Deripaska, the embattled chief executive of Rusal, the world's largest aluminium company, will be hoping that his company's long-delayed initial public offering will be approved at an extraordinary meeting of the Hong Kong stock exchange listing committee today. - China's largest offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC (SEHK: 0883), expects one of its overseas partners to begin drilling the first exploration well in the deep-water region of the western South China Sea next year. - Stricken US insurer AIG wants to sell its Taiwanese unit, Nan Shan Life Insurance, to a Hong Kong battery firm and a newborn Asian private equity fund that has raised over US$1 billion during the greatest money drought in living history but refuses to say where its cash came from. - China is expected to overtake India and become the world's largest gold consumer, a leading precious metals consultancy said yesterday. THE STANDARD: - There are at least eight candidates for listings in Hong Kong in the next three weeks, aiming to raise a combined HK$9.3 billion. - An annual meeting of China's top economic and financial policymakers is expected to focus on boosting domestic demand and restructuring to move away from heavy industry into more technologically driven enterprises. - China Starch Holdings (3838) plans to double its production capacity of corn starch to 1.5 million tonnes. - Hong Kong stocks are set to rise this week on expectations that Beijing is about to reveal more economic stimulus steps, according to market watchers. - Cheung Kong (Holdings) has sold around 700 homes and taken HK$3.5 billion within 10 days of the launch of its Le Prime project. - China National Offshore Oil Corp (0883) aims to tap into the oil-rich region of the South China Sea next year. - DBS Bank (Hong Kong) said its consumer banking business has been picking up since the third quarter and is accelerating in the fourth quarter, helped by an improving lending business, especially in personal loans.