Li Ka-shing’s CK Infrastructure sees net income climb 3pc to HK$5.7 bn
Hong Kong tycoon’s Power Assets also plans special dividend of HK$7.5 per share
Two of Li Ka-shing’s cornerstone businesses reported positive progress on Thursday, a week after speculation swirled in the markets that the doyen of Hong Kong business might be starting the process of handing over control of his empire to the family’s next generation.
CK Infrastructure (CKI), which has diversified infrastructure investments in energy , transportation, water related businesses worldwide such as in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong and mainland China, booked better-than-expected net profit for the six months ending June, as it continues ramping up large-scale deals.
While Power Assets, another Li-controlled multinational whose Hongkong Electric is the sole power supplier on Hong Kong and Lamma islands, announced a generous special interim dividend of HK$7.5 per share.
CKI’s net income climbed 3 per cent to HK$5.7 billion, which translates into HK$2.25 per share, outstripping consensus analyst estimates of HK$2.21 per share compiled by Bloomberg, while its turnover dipped 0.5 per cent to HK$14.0 billion.
Last week the billionaire, who turns 89 in July, insisted he “has no concrete timetable” to retire from his global conglomerate after a report in the Wall Street Journal suggesting he has told associates he plans to step down as chairman of his global conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings by next year, with .
The WSJ added Li has already told his inner coterie of advisers, including son and deputy chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, is earmarked as his successor.
