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Hutchison 3G group once more falls short

31 Mar 2010
00:00
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Hutchison Whampoa’s 3G business failed to reach breakeven at the ebit level in 2009.

The Hong Kong conglomerate now expects the 3 Group to achieve ebit breakeven this year.

3 narrowed its 2009 ebit loss to HK$5.3 billion ($683m), down 67% from HK$15.8 billion in 2008.

The 2009 results included a one-time gain of HK$3.6 billion due to the merger of 3 and Vodafone in Australia and license amortizations.

Removing one-off gains and amoritization in both 2008 and 2009, the loss would have declined by 32%.

Meanwhile, revenue in local currencies grew 5%, but fell 5% to HK$57.6 billion when converted to Hong Kong dollars.

Hutchison Whampoa was hoping that its 3G arm would break even on an ebit basis in 2009.

Managing director Canning Fok - who originally predicted a turnaround in the 3G business in 2007 – admitted in August that the goal might not be achieved until the first half of 2010.

The 3 Group’s operations – spanning the UK, Italy, Australia, Austria, Hong Kong and Sweden – notched up 26.8 million subs in 2009, up from 25.3 million in August.

Chairman Li Ka-shing believes 3’s outlook to be "still positive" and he expects good growth in 2010 from the mobile arm, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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