[Ben]

http://www.m2.com/m2/web/story.php/2005E6ABA44385E40DEC80256FFD004FF034


Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd has said that it will record a profit of HKD9.4bn when it acquires full ownership of its 3G (third generation) unit in the UK.

The profit, to be booked in the first half of this year, will result from the elimination of liability on the company's balance sheet for the minority interests in Hutchison 3G UK Holdings held by KPN Mobile NV and NTT DoCoMo Inc.

Hutchison has agreed to buy DoCoMo's 20% stake in Hutchison 3G UK for GBP120m and KPN's 15% holding for GBP90m.

Hutchison will complete its payment to the two companies for their stakes in the UK unit on 23 June.

Yep, it looks like being the sole owner of 3UK will be a good thing for Hutchison. But is a good thing for Hutchison a good thing for 3UK? We'll see :)

[3GScottishUser]

Well they are giving DoCoMo and KPN back a lot less than they paid in..... so I suppose that is a profit?

In reality its an embarrassment to have had to pay off partner companies of the standing of those and when they 'leave the building' it speaks volumes about their lack of confidence.

Some short term accounting benefits for sure but not for positive reasons.

From Reuters:

The buy-out of the 20 percent and 15 percent stakes in its UK 3G business held by Japan's NTT DoCoMo (9437.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Dutch carrier KPN (KPN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research), respectively, closes a loss-making chapter for Hutchison's two partners. [...]

Hutchison said it will book a net profit of roughly HK$9.4 billion (US$1.2 billion) by eliminating the liability on its balance sheet relating to DoCoMo's and KPN's stakes in the loss-making UK 3G business. "It's a book gain. There's no cash-flow implications," said Nomura analyst K.Y. Ng. "It doesn't add any value to the company." [...]

Last year, Hutchison agreed to buy NTT DoCoMo's 20 percent stake in Hutchison 3G UK Holdings for 120 million pounds -- a near 90 percent loss for DoCoMo on its original investment. [...] In 2003, Hutchison reached a deal to buy KPN's 15 percent stake in the UK business for 90 million pounds -- far less than the 1.2 billion euros (US$1.54 billion) the Dutch carrier paid for its holding at the height of the telecoms bubble in 2000.

Full Story: http://today.reuters.co.uk/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-05-10T124230Z_01_BAU045729_RTRUKOC_0_TELECOMS-HONGKONG-HUTCHISON.xml

[3g-g]

It still seems to be taking the same road as Hutch took with Orange getting rid of BaE etc... It would be nice of Hutch to take full control and make them a decent network.. perhaps making them similar to all the other "versions" of 3 throughout the world (you know where this is heading, open data access etc). It almost seems predictable now... a few years down the line and a sell off?