CWHKT, or PCCWHKT, 8, announced its agreement to Pacific Century Cyberworks, 1186, proposal, and both shares suffered minor retreats, CWHKT by 55 cents to $21.75 and PCCW fell 50 cents to $19.95, again commanding the top turnover. At this point PCCW is given a stockmarket valuation of $200 billion whilst CWHKT has one of $260 billion, so it is a question of the whiting swallowing the whale. However the truth of this takeover will come in May when CWHKT will unveil their results for the year to March 2000, which will be very disappointing, as they had already shown a loss of $2.8 billion, after writing of $7 billion or old equipment. For the full year net income for the second half, say about $4.3 billion will turn the profit for the year to a humble $1.5 billion, and this could be a result which could shock observers, being only 12.5 cents per share. At that point some will wonder why PCCW had paid such a high price, although this can be justified in the longer term.
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