TCL plans listing for mobile business
By Xiao Chen (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-04-08 08:41

TCL Corp announced that a plan for the spin-off and listing of its mobile phone business was approved by the company's board conference yesterday.

But the plan needs to be further discussed at the shareholders' conference on May 15, the company said in a statement.

According to the plan, TCL International Holdings Ltd, the Hong Kong-listed arm of TCL Corp, is to apply to the Hong Kong stock exchange to sell shares of its mobile phone unit.

In addition, a new company, to be named TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd (TCL Communication), will own all Huizhou TCL Mobile Communication Co's (TCL Mobile) assets, TCL International said in a statement.

TCL International currently owns 40.8 per cent of the mobile unit, while its parent, the Shenzhen-listed TCL Corp, holds 36 per cent. The rest is held by two Hong Kong venture capital funds and senior managers from the unit.

"The proposed reorganization and separate listing of TCL Communication will enable the group to focus primarily on multimedia electronic products and to expand its business overseas," said TCL International Chairman Li Dongsheng.

After the reorganization, TCL International will focus its business more on household electrical appliances such as colour televisions.

TCL International, China's second-largest mobile phone and TV maker, is expected to earn less money this year because of costs associated with merging its TV and DVD player businesses with Paris-based Thomson SA's unprofitable TV unit to create the world's biggest TV maker.

TCL International's full-year profit rose 12 per cent to a record HK$641.8 million (US$82.3 million). Net income at TCL Mobile, which accounts for 37 per cent of TCL International's profit and 26 per cent of its assets, fell 35 per cent to HK$782 million (US$100 million) last year because of price cuts amid intensifying competition with bigger rival Ningbo Bird Co and overseas companies such as Nokia and Motorola Inc.

Figures from TCL Mobile showed that by the end of last year, it had total assets of 4.4 billion yuan (US$530 million) and net profits of 2.1 billion yuan (US$253 million).

The number of handsets sold by the company reached 1.25 million in 2001, 6.25 million in 2002 and 9.82 million in 2003.

"The spin-off of its mobile phone business won't have much impact on its domestically listed parent company," Dai Chunrong, an analyst from China Securities.

With the listing on the Hong Kong stock market, TCL Communication is to issue a few new shares to meet the requirement that 25 per cent of shares be publicly tradable in the market.

"In the long run, the spin-off and listing plan will help the company to become much more focused on its mobile business and to carve out a new way to raise more funds from the international market," Dai said.

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