CK Hutchison will not hold earnings calls following port deal criticism

CK Hutchison and sister company to report results on Thursday

State-owned media posts second critical editorial on port deal

China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office reposted commentary

HONG KONG, March 17 (Reuters) – Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison, which is facing pressure from Beijing authorities over a port deal with a BlackRock-led consortium, will not hold earnings conferences this week, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

CK Asset, a property developer in Hong Kong which also has interests in overseas utility assets, told Reuters on Monday it will not hold analyst and media conferences.

“This is very rare for a blue-chip company not to hold an earnings conference,” said an analyst briefed on the matter, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

“The company has not said anything since the port deal. The stock market could view this negatively.”

Both companies are due to report their 2024 financial results on Thursday. Neither provided the reasons for their decisions.

While CK Hutchison confirmed it will not hold a media briefing when asked by Reuters, it did not say whether it still planned to hold an analyst briefing.

They have held analyst conferences for both their semi-annual and annual results for many years as well as media briefings for their annual results.

CK Hutchison said this month it had agreed to sell most of its global ports business, including assets it holds along the strategically important Panama Canal, to a group led by BlackRock. It will receive more than $19 billion in cash proceeds under the deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called for the Panama Canal to be removed from what he says is Chinese ownership, has hailed the deal.

China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) on Thursday reposted a commentary criticising the deal as a betrayal of China, sending the conglomerate’s shares sharply lower the following day.

The article, originally published in Hong Kong-based state-owned newspaper Ta Kung Pao, said the deal neglects national interests and shows CK Hutchison is profit-seeking.

HKMAO on Saturday reposted another Ta Kung Pao editorial in which the paper criticised CK Hutchison and said Hong Kong companies must stand with China in the face of what it called “U.S. hegemony”.

(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Joe Bavier)