CK Hutchinson’s Victor Li and Canning Fok step aside as managing directors after drop in profits in 2023

CK Hutchinson’s Victor Li and Canning Fok step aside as managing directors after drop in profits in 2023

23 Mar CK Hutchinson’s Victor Li and Canning Fok step aside as managing directors after drop in profits in 2023

Posted at 05:24h in Asia by

CK Hutchison Holdings, the flagship conglomerate controlled by Hong Kong’s business tycoon Li Ka-shing, has announced that it is swapping out its co-managing directors as Victor Li Tzar-kuoi and Canning Fok Kin-ning step aside but keep other critical roles within the firm.

Li will stay on as chairman and co-executive director with Fok, who has now also been appointed deputy chairman. The arrangement will allow Fok, 72, “to spend more time with his family”, Li said.

Fok decided to retire as co-managing director after decades in at the company, with 30 years as group managing director of Hutchison Whampoa, now known as CK Hutchison, and over 44 years with the Cheung Kong Group, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange on Friday night.

Fok will also be appointed executive chairman of CK Hutchison Group Telecom to lead the conglomerate’s operations in the telecommunications sector.

Canning Fok Kin-ning, pictured here on May 15, 2014, is stepping aside as co-managing director of CK Hutchison Holdings, but he will stay on as co-executive chairman and take over as chairman of the company’s telecoms arm. Photo: SCMP / Edward Wong

The incoming co-managing directors are 72-year-old Frank Sixt, who is currently the group’s finance director, and Dominic Lai Kai-ming, who is currently deputy managing director. Lai, 70, is also group managing director at AS Watson Group, CK Hutchison’s retailing.

The announcement comes after a rough 2023 for CK Hutchison, which has businesses spanning ports, infrastructure, telecoms and supermarkets. The company announced this week an underlying profit for 2023 of HK$23.5 billion (US$3.3 billion), down 9 per cent from HK$25.74 billion the previous year. Including one-off items in 2022, profit was down a much steeper 36 per cent last year.

CK Hutchison declared a final dividend of HK$1.775 per share. Together with the interim dividend of HK$0.756 per share, the full-year dividend totalled HK$2.531, a decline of 13.49 per cent from HK$2.926 in 2022.

The company’s retail division outperformed other sectors, posting year-on-year revenue growth of 13 per cent to reach HK$16.23 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation. It was primarily driven by favourable performance in Europe and Asia.

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