UK-based telecommunications company, CK Hutchison, witnesses a significant decline in its first-half profit by 92%, primarily due to extraordinary expenses associated with the UK's Vodafone-Three merger.
CK Hutchison Holdings Suffers 92% Profit Drop Amid Challenging Economic Conditions
Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings, chaired by Li Ka-shing, has reported a significant drop in profits for the first half of 2025. The company's earnings per share fell 92% to 22 HK cents from HK$2.66 a year earlier, primarily due to a one-off, non-cash loss related to the merger of 3UK and Vodafone UK telecommunications businesses, amounting to about HK$10.47 billion (US$1.3 billion).
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related economic uncertainties continue to impact the company's profits, as well as escalating geopolitical and trade tensions. Despite these challenges, the company's total revenue for the first half of 2025 increased by 3% to HK$240.66 billion.
The company's diversified business portfolio, which includes ports, retail, telecommunications, and energy, has shown mixed results. The ports division performed strongly, with a 9% revenue increase driven by higher container throughput, improved pricing, and operational efficiencies across 43 terminals in 23 countries. Key growth was seen in Felixstowe and Hutchison Ports Sohar. The ports business is expected to deliver strong earnings growth for the full year, despite the delayed $22.8 billion sale of its global ports assets, now postponed to 2026 due to complex deal negotiations.
The retail and energy businesses contributed to mixed financial results amid challenging economic conditions, but no specific losses or impacts were highlighted for these sectors in the first half report. The company's telecommunications division, however, may have been affected by the ongoing geopolitical and trade tensions, but specific details were not provided.
Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, chairman of CK Hutchison, stated that economic conditions in the first half of 2025 were challenging due to these escalating geopolitical and trade tensions. No profit forecast for the second half of 2025 was provided.
In comparison to the first half of 2021, the company's net profit dropped from HK$852 million to HK$10.2 billion in the same period. Underlying net profit, excluding one-off items, increased by 11% from the previous year to HK$11.36 billion.
In conclusion, the massive profit drop was driven by an exceptional, merger-related loss in its telecommunications segment, while the ports division showed resilience and growth. The sale of ports assets was delayed, though this delay itself was not cited as causing direct losses. The retail and energy businesses showed mixed results amid challenging economic conditions.
Business among CK Hutchison Holdings has been affected by the challenging economic conditions, as they reported a 92% profit drop in the first half of 2025. The finance sector within the company, particularly the telecommunications industry, has been significantly impacted, due to a one-off, non-cash loss from a merger. Despite this, the finance department's total revenue increased by 3%, indicating potential for recovery and growth in the second half of the year.
