STOCKWATCH: Swire Pacific-- 2 (pre-exceptional profit within expectations)

At 3:16 p.m., Swire Pacific was down 2.25 hkd or 4.20 pct at 57.25 on volume of 1.169 mln units. Hang Seng Index was up 3.44 points at 14,212.39.The profit excluding exceptional items was actually in line with market expectations, said Philip Tulk, analyst at Lehman Brothers Asia.In a statement, the company said its net profit excluding non-recurring items for 2000 was 5.971 bln hkd. Taken as a whole, however, earnings disappointed. Earnings per share for A shares was 2.506 hkd, down from 2.858 a year earlier and against which Tulk had been forecasting 3.04 hkd. Tulk said he was looking for Swire to report EPS of 3.99 hkd in 2001 before any adjustments have been made to reflect the latest results from HAECO and Cathay Pacific.The analyst said he has a neutral stance on the stock.

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