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Anita Lam
The explosive growth of e-commerce on the mainland has made logistics the next big thing for investors. But low profitability and fierce competition between online retailers means some of these investments could be on shaky ground.
The crossover of mobile, internet and traditional outdoor media is the way ahead for Hong Kong's multimillion-dollar advertising business, but insufficient mobile network capacity and a lack of integration between these channels and back-end logistics support mean some brilliant ideas have not taken shape in an otherwise tech-savvy city.
Hong Kong could suffer a brain drain amid greater regional competition for talent, with a survey finding nearly one-third of 225 professionals polled said they wanted to leave the city next year.
Hong Kong manufacturers want to strengthen co-operation with the authorities in the Pearl River Delta as part of the push for a free-trade zone involving Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau.
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Hong Kong's economic growth is set to speed up next year as advanced economies begin to recover. But the city's property market still looks shaky. An expected tapering of the US Federal Reserve's stimulus could spark a capital outflow from Hong Kong, which together with market-cooling measures could slash property prices by 10 per cent, analysts said.
With only modest growth expected in the cargo business for the decade from 2020, the consultancy report says the government should make better use of the 100,000 hectares of land at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal in Tsing Yi in the short-term.
A land rezoning exercise at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal is likely to spark competition for valuable sites among stakeholders and threatens to wipe out the losers.
Café chain Tsui Wah may be a better performer than its rivals in terms of profitability, but an analyst said that when the price-earnings ratios of Fairwood and Café de Coral are taken into account, they may be better options for investors.
Shipping lines are fighting a new environmental regulation that they said will not only lead to stringent control over their operations but will also pave the way for a carbon trading policy resembling the one that sparked controversy in the aviation sector.
China South City, the developer of huge integrated trade centres operating in seven mainland cities, is looking for acquisition opportunities for its supply chain division such as freight forwarding, joining a growing number of players seeking a slice of China's booming logistics market.
Port authorities in Shenzhen are working aggressively to persuade foreign carriers to skip Hong Kong as a transit hub and do business directly with them, the Post has learned.
While Hong Kong may still lack the systems and manpower required for its quest to become the region’s trading hub for intellectual property (IP) assets, a booming demand for patent agents and lawyers in mainland China is helping the city’s professionals, industry veterans said.
Hong Kong's biggest electricity provider, CLP Power, and state-owned China Southern Power Grid (CSG), will each pay HK$12 billion to acquire Exxon Mobil's 60 per cent stake in Castle Peak Power Company (Capco).
Ships calling at Hong Kong will face higher costs when legislation requiring vessels to switch to cleaner marine fuel upon berthing is passed next year.
Phoenix Healthcare, the first mainland hospital group seeking a listing in Hong Kong, is tipped to be a front runner when it opens its retail book today, along with two other listing candidates.
Manufacturers say they will make smaller and shorter investment plans over the next few years when looking to expand production in new locations, as the emergence of big free-trade alliances could bring as many barriers as benefits to exports.
Shenzhen overtook Hong Kong's port business this year in a move that was widely expected, and anyone who thought it was a temporary phenomenon, induced by a labour strike, had better think again.
Singapore's PSA International yesterday added another mainland container port to its portfolio after winning a tender floated by China Shipping Container Lines for its stake in a major port in Jiangsu.
Investment losses and startup rental costs saw rapidly expanding Hong Kong department store operator Sincere report a loss of HK$33 million for the six months to August, nearly triple that recorded in the same period last year.
Exports may enjoy high single-digit growth this year because of better-than-expected deliveries of electronic goods and smartphone accessories ahead of Christmas, according to the Federation of Hong Kong Industries.
China Cosco, a shipping firm trying to avoid a third straight year of losses in order to retain its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, saw losses widen in the third quarter of this year.
Hong Kong should seek help from Beijing to join the Asean-China free-trade agreement, amid warnings that exclusion from the region's biggest free-trade network would harm the city's port terminals.
Ford Motor chief executive Alan Mulally said he did not regret adopting a conservative approach to business on the mainland, which has seen the company fall behind in the world's biggest passenger vehicle market.
Wong's comments follow an announcement last month by Li Ka-shing-controlled utility Power Asset Holdings that will spin-off its local electricity distributor, Hong Kong Electric. Li is reportedly seeking to raise as much as US$5 billion. Wong said Towngas was in no hurry to spin off its division.
Major mainland shipping lines that now dominate the domestic container business are set to face competition from smaller rivals following the establishment of the Shanghai free-trade zone, which allows foreign-registered vessels owned by Chinese shipping lines to carry seaborne goods between Shanghai and the other ports along the mainland coast.
Shipping lines hope the return of manufacturing to the United States will correct the imbalance of cargo on vessels plying transpacific trade lanes, but the prospect remains distant with the US trade deficit remaining wide.
Shipping freight rates are set to stay volatile next year despite increasing cuts in the number of sailings as new supply of capacity is set to flood the market over the next two years, say analysts.
The competing needs of Hong Kong aviation, Shenzhen shipping and endangered pink dolphins are sowing the seeds of conflict between the neighbouring cities.
A proposed third runaway at the Hong Kong International Airport could cost port terminals in western Shenzhen millions of dollars a year in lost business.
