Profits plunge at Li Ka-shing’s flagships Hutchison and CK Asset as they run aground after 12 full months of the coronavirus pandemic

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

CK Hutchison’s net profit fell 27 per cent to HK$29.1 billion last year, while CK Asset’s underlying profit declined 32.5 per cent to HK$19.34 billion

CK Asset unveils US$2.2 billion deal to acquire four European infrastructure assets from the tycoon’s Li Ka Shing Foundation and a share buy-back programme

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

CK Hutchison Holdings flags are displayed outside the company’s headquarters in Hong Kong. Photo: AFP

Eric NgandLam Ka-sing

Published: 8:30pm, 18 Mar 2021Updated: 8:47pm, 18 Mar 2021

CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, the listed flagships of billionaire Li Ka-shing, reported sharply lower annual profits as economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on their retail, ports, hotel and property operations.

CK Hutchison, the conglomerate with businesses spanning from container ports, retailing to telecommunications and energy, said net profit fell 27 per cent to HK$29.1 billion (US$3.7 billion) for 2020. It was the first profit decline since its restructuring in 2015, as Europe, from where it derived 78 per cent of its operating profit last year, saw steep economic decline.

However, the profit was in line with the HK$29.4 billion consensus estimate by 10 analysts polled by Bloomberg.

Revenue declined 8 per cent to HK$403.8 billion, a second consecutive annual decline.

Li Ka-shing with his son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, chairman of CK Hutchison. Photo: Dickson Lee

“[As] CK Hutchison’s cash flows are very good with a low debt leverage, we will certainly seek investment opportunities, especially businesses with stable cash flows,” Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, CK Hutchison’s chairman and the eldest son of Li Ka-shing, told reporters on Thursday.