Page 9 - Sphere No.14 (Jul 2005)

Container Port
Development In Egypt
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) has formed a joint venture
with a consortium led by the Alexandria Port Authority to
build and operate two terminals at Alexandria Port and El
Dekheila Port in Egypt. Alexandria International Container
Terminals, the new JV, will develop the existing cargo
terminals into state of the art container handling facilities.
The Egyptian government is committed to modernising
port facilities to support the country’s fast-growing international trade. Welcoming the agreement,
Admiral Mohamed Youssef, Chairman of the Alexandria Port Authority, said, “We have
full confidence that this partnership with HPH will be a success. The terminals will
benefit from the transfer of terminal management expertise and best practices.”
Profits for Hongkong Electric
Hongkong Electric Holdings Ltd reported a 3.7% increase in
net profits in 2004, to HK$6,280 million, despite unfavourable
market conditions, with coal prices at 250% above 2003
levels, freight costs tripling and a significant increase in
government rates. Combined with relatively low consumption
caused by unseasonably cool weather in the second half of
the year, these increased costs meant that the Hong Kong
business earned less than the permitted return under the
Scheme of Control Agreement.
Overseas operations continued to perform well and
contributed HK$759 million to overall profits, up from
HK$437 million in 2003. Hongkong Electric increased its total
dividend, to HK$1.77 per share. E
Newsbites
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LEARNING IS FUN WITH HEC
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HIGH VALUE CALLS FROM HGC
Hong Kong has an attractive new Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) service. Hutchison Global Communications Limited (HGC)
is partnering with Skype Technologies S.A. (Skype), the Global Internet
Telephony Company™, to offer a co-branded portal in Hong Kong. HGC-Skype
offers free Skype to Skype global calling via the Internet, plus SkypeOut,
SkypeIn and Skype Voicemail services at low prices.
True to its track-record of innovative service offerings, HGC is the world’s first
fixed network services operator to reach a co-branding agreement with Skype.
Skype shows just how the best voice communications technologies can be
integrated with the Internet platform to deliver real value-added services. It has
more than 40 million registered users, making it easily the leading VoIP-category
product worldwide. The number of users is growing at more than 150,000 per
day – a rate that can only increase now that HGC is making the service so
easily available to Hong Kong consumers.
H O N G K O N G
T
“To learn with fun” was the theme when 700 primary school students visited Hongkong
Electric’s power station during the Lamma Fun Days in March.
The students went on an exciting energy journey round the power plant that
provides electricity to more than 550,000 consumers on Hong Kong and Lamma Islands.
HEC also made sure that the students learned about the need for energy conservation.
HEC is planning more learning opportunities for students.