In a surprise move, PCCW declared a net profit its first year to December 31, 1999 after taking over. The feat was accomplished through declaring unrealized stock gains worth HK$537.17 million. If the firm had used more conservative accounting methods, the losses would still stand. General and administrative costs more than doubled following the takeover, and the cost of sales of continuing operations rose more quickly than revenues. Total revenues are down due to the decrease stemming from discontinued operations. Continuing operations are property projects.
QuamView Annual results to December 31:
HK$ '000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
Revenue
152,033
285,080
352,579
324,832
410,797
Op. Inc
(216,484)
(49,999)
(6,244)
21,595
22,887
Profit
346,805
(62,038)
(5,021)
12,813
20,403
EPS $
0.071
(0.134)
(0.011)
0.029
0.046
Div $
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.015
0.030
NAV $
n/a
0.250
0.380
0.400
0.390
.EPS fully diluted where applicable. For more information including complete financials, see our "HSBC Broking Datacards" or Datacard Data Extractor
Future
Since the takeover, the pace of acquisitions has been rapid. The PCCW portfolio includes stakes of varying sizes in Palm Inc, Indian portal Rediff (5%), Chinese portal Sohu (4.65 %), e-commerce enabler 3Fusion (22.4%), broadband tech firm Dotcast (undisclosed), HK$23 million for a percentage of audio tech firm Beatnik, food website Tasteforliving.com, a Singapore portal (Horizon), an Australian online radio station (Spike Radio), a Hong Kong entertainment web site (StarEastNet), an online stock trade site (CASH On-line), a shopping site (ubuyibuy), and an online toy seller (ActionAce). Others are companies doing internet telephony software, web design and management, broadband technology development, B2B supply chain management, data centers, and online advertising. There is also a stake in privately-held Digiscents which is attempting to make smells available via the internet using Java applications, digitally generated scents, and "scent enabled machines."
The "Network of the World" project is yet to get off the ground, and the components of its portfolio seem oddly diverse and unconvergent.
The Cyberport, a decidedly un-cyber property project, should provide income in the future. The company is also planning on an Asian satellite broadband network - a project at the core of the company.
Should the public investments go bad, investors should expect some exceptional losses.