CK Hutchison sees ‘reasonable chance’ of US$22.8 billion ports sale going through

[HONG KONG] CK Hutchison said on Thursday (Aug 14) its US$22.8 billion ports business sale had a “reasonable chance” of going through after a plan to add a Chinese major strategic investor to the buying consortium, as it tries to navigate through Sino-US tensions.

CK Hutchison, based in the Chinese-controlled territory of Hong Kong, has faced heavy criticism from Beijing since unveiling a plan in March to sell 43 ports in 23 countries, including two near the Panama Canal, to a group led by BlackRock and Italian Gianluigi Aponte’s family-run shipping firm MSC.

President Donald Trump had called for the US to “take back” the Panama Canal, which is used by more than 40 per cent of US container traffic, valued at roughly US$270 billion annually, from Chinese influence. CK Hutchison’s ports are not on the canal or part of it, however.

“We are into a new stage of our deal,” group co-managing director and finance director Frank Sixt told analysts at an earnings conference. “There is a reasonable chance that those discussions will lead to a deal that is good for all of the parties, ourselves included. And most importantly, that we’ll be capable of being approved by all of the relevant authorities.”

On July 28, the conglomerate said it was in talks to include a Chinese “major strategic investor” in the bid for its ports, and that it would allow as much time as needed to secure approval in relevant jurisdictions.

On Thursday, Sixt said these included China, the US, Britain and the European Union.

He said the talks were taking much longer than expected but that this was “not particularly troublesome” because the port business had delivered stronger earnings and cash flow this year than expected.

Sources have said the investor is Cosco – one of the world’s dominant, vertically integrated marine transportation firms. They said Cosco wanted a bigger stake while the other parties were keen to keep it a minority.

Allaying Chinese concerns

The inclusion of a Chinese investor would alleviate Beijing’s security concerns and have its blessing, the sources and other experts have said. Cosco did not respond to a request last month for comment.

Thursday’s results conference was the first opportunity for analysts to quiz management about the ports deal.

But chairman Victor Li, eldest son of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, who took over the conglomerate from his father, was missing for the first time, as was deputy chairman Canning Fok. Also unusually, CK Hutchison did not brief analysts or media about its 2024 earnings when it released them in March.

Its shares closed down 0.4 per cent on Thursday ahead of the results, in line with the Hang Seng Index.

The conglomerate posted an 11 per cent rise in first-half underlying profit to HK$11.3 billion (S$1.9 billion) on a post-IFRS 16 basis. UBS had forecast a 6 per cent rise.

However, including one-time non-cash accounting loss, notably from the merger of 3UK and Vodafone UK, net profit dropped 92 per cent year on year to HK$852 million. The company said global trade and consumer demand affecting its ports business would remain volatile in the second half due to uncertainty over trade disputes and geopolitical risks. REUTERS