CK Hutchison 2022 net profit up 9.5% helped by big one-off gain

CK Hutchison Holdings, the ports-to-telecoms conglomerate owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, said it expects lower one-off gains to affect its profit this year after posting a 9.5 per cent rise in 2022 net profit, helped by a big one-off gain.

The Hong Kong group said in a stock market filing that it had a net gain of over HK$10 billion (S$1.7 billion) last year from mergers and acquisition transactions.

“As one-off gains of similar magnitude may not materialise and, coupled with the numerous headwinds and externalities... its reported results in 2023 are expected to be affected,” the filing said.

CK Hutchison said net profit last year rose to HK$36.7 billion, beating a SmartEstimate forecast of HK$33.5 billion, thanks to improvements in the ports division, steady performance of its infrastructure businesses and the one-off gain.

Sister company CK Asset, a major property developer in Hong Kong which also has interests in infrastructure and utility assets overseas, said net profit during the period gained 3.6 per cent to HK$21.7 billion.

Analysts had forecast a HK$21.8 billion net profit, according to SmartEstimate.

Shares in CK Hutchison ended down 2.3 per cent on Thursday (Mar 16) ahead of the results, while CK Asset eased 1.9 per cent. The Hang Seng Index dropped 1.7 per cent. REUTERS