| 12 June 2003
Standard & Poor's (S&P) ratings action reflects their
negative outlook on the prospects of the 3G businesses of
our associated company, Hutchison Whampoa Limited ("HWL").
This is disappointing to us as these businesses have only
recently launched and we do not believe S&P's negative
view warranted a ratings action.
The Group's 3G operations in Europe as well as in Australia
have now commenced business. After assuring that the systems
and networks are sufficiently robust to handle large numbers
of customers, HWL has launched the first major summer marketing
campaigns for 3G in Italy and the UK over the last few weeks.
Initial customer response to these campaigns is very strong
and we are confident that HWL is on track to achieve a solid
operating performance in the 3G businesses this year.
Of course like all start-ups, the Group's 3G businesses will
incur start-up losses in the early years. It is for this reason
that we have ensured that these businesses are fully funded
and that HWL has adopted a prudent financial management policy
minimizing leverage in all businesses and maintaining a high
level of liquidity.
CKH's financial position is solid and can be demonstrated
by the following:
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