Hutchison Whampoa, the conglomerate controlled by Asia's richest businessman Li Ka-shing, has recorded a 2% rise in first half profits as losses at its European third generation mobile phone businesses offset growth in its ports and retail arms.
The firm, whose shares have been hit by scepticism toward its US$16.7 billion investment in 3G, booked a US$500m start-up loss for the service in the first half, but stuck to its target of signing up a million users each in the UK and Italy by the end of 2003 - a goal many observers think is optimistic.
Hutchison has been discounting third generation voice services deeply, especially in the UK, to win over consumers underwhelmed by the technology's video capabilities. The firm said today it had ordered three million handsets for the autumn and winter seasons.
Hutchison said that to date it had enlisted 520,000 3G users worldwide, including in Australia. It predicted 3G sales would be 'no less than half a million per month' in coming months. The company has won a licence to operate 3G services in Ireland.
