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Hartcourt Declares Dividend for Second Consecutive Year
Thursday October 9, 6:22 pm ET


LOS ANGELES, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Hartcourt Companies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: HRCT, Frankfurt: 900009), www.hartcourt.com , announced today that it will distribute 15.1 Million shares of Financial Telecom Limited (USA) Inc. (FTL) to all Hartcourt shareholders of record as of October 17th, 2003. FTL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hartcourt, operates a financial data service in Hong Kong. Hartcourt anticipates the dividend distribution to take place in mid January 2004 assuming certain conditions are satisfied, including the listing of FTL stock on the OTC Bulletin Board exchange in the United States.
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Last year, Hartcourt had declared a dividend by distributing 5 Million shares of Elephant Talk Communications Inc. to its shareholders in October 2002.

Details on this dividend distribution are available in the preliminary information statement in the Schedule 14 C filed by Hartcourt with the SEC today. The preliminary information statement is also available on Hartcourt's Web site, www.hartcourt.com .

About Hartcourt

The Hartcourt Companies, Inc. is an investment and development company focusing on the acquisition and consolidation of fast-growing IT companies in China. Since February 2003, Hartcourt has acquired 4 companies with total revenue of US$183 Million in 2002. Detailed information on Hartcourt can be obtained via its web site: www.hartcourt.com .

Forward-looking statements

The statements made in this press release, which are not historical facts, contain certain forward-looking statements concerning potential developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition and other aspects of the company to which this release pertains. The actual results of the specific items described in this release, and the company's operations generally, may differ materially from what is projected in such forward- looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of management of the company as of the date of this release, significant deviations in magnitude, timing and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties including, without lim