Hengqin installs electricity grid to power port and theme park

The Zhuhai Power Supply Bureau of China’s Southern Power Grid has set up three power transformer substations in Hengqin in recent years, while the company’s 35 transmission lines have been connected to form a 20-kilovolt electricity grid. Hengqin’s substations power the island’s Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park, as well as the 24-hour customs clearance system used by Hengqin Port. “Considering grid planning and power supply services, Hengqin has carried out many innovations. Our workers often visit the projects in Hengqin and provide quality services for them door to door. Also, we work closely with the neighborhoods and help the local residents,” noted a bureau official.

Luk Fook second retailer to issue profit warning

Hong Kong jeweler Luk Fook Holdings yesterday became the second retailer in the SAR to issue a profit warning. It said that its profits from the first half of the year may have slipped by as much as 40 percent, in advance of their official announcement on November 26. Luk Fook, which posted a first-half profit of HKD 804.6 million last year, said that declining revenues and margins were the primary reason for the plunge. Group Chairman Wong Wai-sheung said that higher rental costs also contributed to the decline. The seventh month of consecutive decline in retail sales also hit rival Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, who two days earlier announced that its April-September profits had halved due to low consumer spending. Sales of jewelry, watches, clocks and valuable gifts in September were 22.9 percent lower than the same period last year, the steepest year-on-year decline measured since June 2014.

Macau Legend announces staff cuts due to weaker earnings

Casino operator Macau Legend Development Ltd reported an 18 percent drop in its third quarter revenue on Wednesday, citing factors such as the local gaming industry’s lower revenues, as well as China’s anti-corruption measures and subsequent growth slowdown. The Hong Kong-listed company said that revenue for the third quarter was HKD 370.5 million, down from HKD 452 million a year earlier. In the same period, gaming revenue alone fell by 29 percent. A year-on-year comparison of revenues from the first nine months of 2015 showed a 22 percent slip, with revenues falling from HKD 1.37 billion to HKD 1.07 billion. In response to the weaker earnings, Macau Legend Development has announced that it will cut a total of 132 employees between October and November, equivalent to 3.9 percent of its workforce.