Wing Tai Properties sells entire equity interest in Topworth Enterprises for £43 million
According to a company statement, Topworth Enterprises' net liabilities had widened to £11.6 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024, from £10 million in the same year-ago period.
The group will record a gain of approximately HK$31 million (S$5.1 million) from the disposal, which will be accounted for in the consolidated financial statements of the group for the financial year ending Dec 31.
The buyer is an independent third party, Clas Puma, a company incorporated in England and Wales.
The net proceeds from this move of approximately HK$449 million is intended to be utilised as general working capital of the group, wih the deal in line with the company's broader investment strategy at this time.
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Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
HK water scandal: How distrust over China bottled water sparked a probe into govt contract
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The incident has cast a spotlight on the integrity of the government's procurement system. HONG KONG – A HK$53 million (S$8.7 million) contract to supply drinking water from mainland China to government offices in Hong Kong is at the centre of the latest scandal to rock the Asian financial hub. The government said late on Aug 20 that it had terminated all contracts associated with Xin Ding Xin Trade (XDX), after concluding that the firm could not fulfil the three-year deal to supply mainland-bottled water to Hong Kong's public offices. The authorities have arrested the married couple behind the Hong Kong-registered firm on suspicion that they gave officials false information to win the water contract. The police's preliminary probe also found the couple linked to a separate fraud case in 2022, local media reported. On Aug 21, the city's procurement chief Carlson Chan apologised for lapses on the government's part that caused it to overlook the fraudulent deal. But the incident – still unfolding as investigations continue – has cast a spotlight on the integrity of the government's procurement system. It has also brought to the fore a latent mistrust of mainland-origin food and drinks that still exists within some sectors of Hong Kong society, even as Hong Kongers have grown increasingly open to shopping and dining on the cheap in mainland China in recent years. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore Parliament releases seating plan for 15th term: Find out who is sitting where Singapore Courier tip-off leads to HSA seizure of Kpods, drugs in Tampines and Grange Road raids Singapore Large flocks of parakeets a spectacle in Choa Chu Kang, but they may affect native species Singapore Singapore students shine in Paris with record medal haul at history Olympiad Business Zoom opens new office in Marina Bay Singapore District judge signals sterner penalties for vaping offences, cites public concern Singapore Alleged vape seller faces new charge after he was found with more than 190 Kpods Singapore Playing down Tuaspring's energy business the core of Hyflux's investor relations strategy: Defence The latest scandal all started in June when the government, for the first time, awarded its offices' drinking water supply contracts to mainland suppliers. XDX won the HK$52.9 million deal to supply water – which it said would be bottled on the mainland by the Guangzhou branch of Chinese manufacturer Robust Guangdong Drinking Water – to government offices on Hong Kong Island and the city's outlying islands. Another Hong Kong firm, Professional Trade International, would supply water from a mainland manufacturer from Dongguan, Dongwa Drinking Water, to offices in the New Territories, while AS Watson Group – owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka Shing's CK Hutchison Holdings – would provide its locally distilled water to offices in Kowloon. The result of an open tender, the three three-year deals totalling HK$166 million were expected to save the government more than HK$16 million annually. Previously, it had a HK$143 million two-year agreement with AS Watson and Swire Coca-Cola to provide their locally produced water. The government has been under tremendous pressure to cut costs, as Hong Kong expects to incur a fourth straight year of deficit in the current fiscal year . XDX was separately also awarded another approximately HK$11 million worth of contracts to supply chemicals and data entry services to two other government departments. As the new water contracts took effect in late June, local media reported that the water produced by Robust had violated mainland safety standards six times between 2014 and 2017, and that water produced by Dongwa was in 2023 found to contain excessive levels of bacteria. The water contract awarded to Professional Trade, which sources its water from Dongwa, is still valid for now, as the water currently meets safety standards. However, the public chatter generated from the scepticism over the quality of the mainland-sourced water provided to the government offices sparked XDX's unravelling. Doubts over the water were further fuelled by worries among Hong Kongers who have, according to research studies over the past decades, long perceived mainland brands as being cheap and of inferior quality. Civil servants started expressing concerns about the water in their offices. Some ordered their own bottled water or brought their own from home. They also bombarded the Federation of Civil Service Unions with requests querying the water quality and rationale for the contract change, local media cited federation chief Leung Chau-ting as saying. The 170,000-strong civil service represents about 5 per cent of Hong Kong's workforce. It got bad enough that Chief Executive John Lee felt compelled to assure public officers that the water they were given was safe to drink and that the procurement process was sound. 'The government attaches great importance to the safety of our drinking water,' Mr Lee said on Aug 3. 'This is reflected in the strict requirements of our bidding and tendering process.' But his words were called into question barely a fortnight later, when XDX was found to have sourced its water from a different supplier in Dongguan rather than Guangzhou's Robust, as it had claimed. That is tantamount to fraud, as it contradicts the information it gave the government in its tender. This came to light after Robust, learning of reports questioning its safety standards, clarified that it had no existing business dealings with XDX. On Aug 16, the government said it would terminate the water deal with XDX and that the police were investigating the matter. It later cancelled all contracts it had with XDX. On Aug 17, the authorities arrested XDX director Lui Tsz-chung and his shareholder wife Chan Pik-lam on suspicion of fraud, and set up a task force to review the government's procurement processes within three months. Hong Kong's AS Watson will temporarily supply water to the affected offices. 'The whole incident is problematic; there are inadequacies (in the procurement process),' treasury chief Christopher Hui admitted on Aug 19. He revealed that XDX was the lowest bidder among the contenders, but insisted that price was not the sole deciding factor in awarding the water contracts. The South China Morning Post, however, cited an unnamed source as saying that the tender had listed price as its sole criterion, contrary to previous tenders, which also considered firms' governance, supply chain stability and other factors. The scandal raises questions about whether the government does the due diligence to vet bidders at its tenders for their background and product quality, lawmaker Doreen Kong said. Ms Kong, a solicitor by profession, told The Straits Times, however, that the main issue remained centred around whether officials had complied with procurement procedures. 'It doesn't matter whether the products came from mainland China. Right now, we are still waiting for the government to clarify some basic information,' she said. She called for answers from the government 'as soon as possible' rather than to wait for its review to conclude in three months. 'Even big institutions make mistakes,' she said. 'The key is admitting errors and addressing them... Timeliness is very important.' Hong Kong police, late on Aug 20, said their investigations found that the Dongguan manufacturer used by XDX held the necessary licences to produce bottled water in mainland China. But samples from its water seized from the Hong Kong government offices would be tested to assess if they met safety standards, they added. In a wry commentary posted on Facebook and widely shared among Hong Kongers, social commentator Fung Hei-kin remarked: 'When the news first broke of Xin Ding Xin's winning bid, we initially thought the water was from an old mainland brand we were unfamiliar with; as it turns out, it is in fact a counterfeit.' 'One can hardly fathom the trauma inflicted on Hong Kong's civil servants who have had to drink not just a mainland-branded product – but a bogus one, at that,' he added.
Business Times
a day ago
- Business Times
Hong Kong exchange's first-half profit jumps nearly 40% to record
[HONG KONG] Hong Kong's stock exchange operator said on Wednesday (Aug 20) that its first half profit rose almost 40 per cent to a record HK$8.5 billion (S$1.4 billion), driven by a sharp increase in daily stock trading and a revived listings market. The revenue of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) reached HK$14.1 billion in the past six months, up 33 per cent on the year, it said in a stock exchange filing. It declared an interim dividend of HK$6, up from HK$4.36 last year, while earnings per share rose to HK$6.74 from HK$4.84. HKEX said that its average daily equities turnover, or buying and selling of stocks, rose 122 per cent in the half to be worth HK$222.8 billion. South-bound stock trading, where mainland investors trade Hong Kong shares, was up nearly 200 per cent. HKEX chief executive Bonnie Chan said that cash market, derivatives and stock connect volumes reached new heights that helped push half-yearly revenue and profit to their best ever. 'We enter the second half of 2025 with new initiatives ... to further enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of our markets,' Chan said, adding that the first half also saw a record number of IPO and listing applications. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is up almost 25 per cent year to date, making it one of the world's best-performing major equities markets. Analysts say the surge in the benchmark index has been driven by foreign investors' return to buying Chinese stocks, despite US President Donald Trump's April tariffs package and geopolitical tension between the two countries. REUTERS
Business Times
a day ago
- Business Times
Pop Mart shares rise to record as CEO announces new mini Labubu
[BEIJING] Shares of Chinese pop toy maker Pop Mart International Group rose to a record on Wednesday (Aug 20), after founder and chief executive officer Wang Ning said that the company could easily surpass its annual sales projection and announced plans to launch a new mini Labubu in a post-earnings briefing. Pop Mart was up as much as 8.6 per cent to HK$305, the highest level since the company was listed in December 2020. That reversed earlier losses of up to 4.7 per cent, as some analysts flagged concerns about longer-term demand for Pop Mart's popular characters. Pop Mart's top intellectual property, including the Labubu dolls that have inspired a global collecting frenzy, 'still see high uncertainties on long-term popularity', Morningstar analyst Jeff Zhang said. Wang told an earnings call that even he's been unable to accurately predict earnings growth. Wang said that while earlier this year Pop Mart hoped to hit 20 billion yuan (S$3.6 billion), he now feels 30 billion yuan 'will not be that difficult. It would be quite easy'. A new mini version of Labubu will be launched as soon as this week, Wang added, without giving further details. Pop Mart's revenue increased 204 per cent year on year to 13.88 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, according to a company statement on Tuesday. That beat the average analyst estimate of 13.76 billion yuan and compared with 62 per cent growth in the same period a year ago. Net income jumped 397 per cent to 4.57 billion yuan. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up More stores Beijing-based Pop Mart is racing ahead with its global expansion plan, leveraging the worldwide craze over Labubus, plush toys that have turned into a pop culture phenomenon in Western markets, particularly the US. Its overseas revenue grew 440 per cent to 5.6 billion yuan during the first six months of the year. Pop Mart expects total foreign store numbers to exceed 200 by year-end, up from its current 140, co-chief operating officer Moon Duk II told the earnings call. Store expansion will remain fast in the US market in the next one to two years, fellow co-COO Si De said. 'We believe Pop Mart's strong capability in IP incubation and operation and overseas expansion will continue to underpin its solid growth momentum' in the second half, Citigroup analysts including Lydia Ling wrote. Net store growth in mainland China will not exceed 10 this year, according to Wednesday's call, as the company wants to focus on improving each existing store's operations instead of aggressively expanding. Labubus' popularity is due in part to the company's blind-box packaging approach for many of its products, a draw for customers curious about what's inside. Revenue for The Monsters, the toy series that includes Labubu, reached 4.81 billion yuan, compared with 626.8 million yuan for the same period last year. Pop Mart will keep expanding its global footprint by establishing offline channels in major landmarks, stepping up investment in its website and self-developed apps, and aiming to collaborate with more international brands and artists, according to its earnings statement. BLOOMBERG
