Page 23 - Sphere No.11 (Apr 2004)

W hen HuchisonWhampoa Limited (HWL) successful-
ly completed a US$5 billion corporate bond financ-
ing deal last November, it was not just the huge sum
involved that caught the attention of the industry but the speed
and efficiency at which the company was able to pull it off.
The apparent behemoth had again proved to be remarkably
nimble in its ability to crunch the numbers.
Taking advantage of relatively low borrowing rates and high
levels of liquidity to launch the multi-tranche facility, HWL initi-
ated and then closed the deal, which was the largest ever in Asia
outside of Japan, in a matter of days.
It was the Group’s sixth visit to the bond markets in 2003,
bringing the total for the year to some US$10 billion and
prompting a barrage of plaudits from the financial media. Among
them, International Financing Review (IFR) and FinanceAsia named
Hutchison “Borrow of the Year” for its “phenomenal” feat.
The achievement was a powerful testimony to the Group’s abil-
ity to provide financial data at short notice through the deploy-
ment of advanced and customised IT reporting systems.
Amid the everyday tales of crashed computers, malfunctioning
servers, debilitating viruses and junk e-mail, it is easy to forget that
information technology (IT) exists to make life easier. Utilised in
the right way, it allows a company to work smarter, faster and
more productively.
STRATEGIC VISION
At the dawn of the new millennium, HWL foresaw the future.
Having led the drive for faster financial reporting for some years,
the company decided it was time to take a fresh look at its
financial systems.
With Group Finance Director Frank Sixt at the forefront, the
Group initiated an IT programme that would stretch its lead
even further.
Whilst the rest of the world played catch-up over the next few
years, and the clamour for quarterly reporting grew, HWL had
already embarked on a journey that would see it create a state-of-
the-art financial software system that supports continued world-
class corporate governance.
When the Group began its search for software that would bring
increased benefits to its financial reporting systems, it was careful
to avoid the trap of implementing the latest technology simply for
its own sake. Rather, it wanted the kind of system that would pre-
cisely align with its business objectives — to make the Group and
its people even faster and better at what they do.
Out of these requirements, the Group’s vision of EBIS
(Enterprise Business Information System) began to take shape.
“We wanted to improve both internal and external reporting
processes by making them faster and more accurate, but there
were no off-the-shelf offerings that could do this,” says Kwan
Well-known for its “old economy” business acumen, HWL is also a world leader in harnessing
the power of information technology to improve performance.
By Arun Sudhaman
The
Intelligent
Advantage
S PHERE
1221