Record profit at HKEx attributed to Chinese listings

Net profit at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing rose 53% in 2004 as trading income reached a new high, partly due to popular new listings from China. The HKEx, which owns and operates Hong Kong's stock exchange, may face more competition from mainland exchanges this year as Beijing aims to shore up mainland markets by asking large state-owned firms to list domestically. About half of the Hong Kong-listed companies are Chinese firms or derive more than half of their revenues from China.