CK Hutchison Banks 7% Profit Rise

CK Hutchison posted a 7% rise in 2025 underlying profit on Thursday, as the market awaits updates on the company's proposed sale of its ports business and other spin-off plans.

The Hong Kong ports-to-telecoms conglomerate reported underlying profit of HK$22.3 billion ($2.85 billion) on a post-IFRS 16 basis. That compared with an HK$22.9 billion LSEG SmartEstimate and the HK$20.8 billion booked a year earlier.

Including a one-time non-cash accounting loss, net profit fell 31% from a year earlier to HK$11.84 billion.

The conglomerate, owned by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, has been caught up in a diplomatic to-and-fro since U.S. President Donald Trump objected to Chinese ownership of ports along the globally strategic Panama Canal.

Last year, the company agreed to the $23 billion sale of dozens of ports worldwide, including two near the Panama Canal, to a consortium led by U.S. asset manager BlackRockBLK.N and Mediterranean Shipping Company.

It later said it was in talks for the consortium to include a "major strategic investor", which sources identified as China's COSCO.

The deal was further complicated this year after Panama's government moved to unwind a concession agreement that gave control of the two terminals to CK Hutchison unit Panama