Page 4 - Sphere No.15 (Nov 2005)

Striking Silver
The quality of Hutchison Whampoa Limited's (HWL)
annual reports has again been recognised, with the latest annual report
winning a Silver Award in the Conglomerate Category of the 19th Annual
International ARC Awards. Creativity, clarity, effectiveness and innovation
shown by the Group’s 2004 Annual Report won recognition in the competi-
tion that attracted close to 1,900 entries from 25 countries and more than 200 industries.
HWL’s 2003 Annual Report won a bronze award in last year's competition.
A.S. Watson on the
Acquisition Trail
It’s been a busy time
for the A.S. Watson Group. A.S. Watson
Health and Beauty Continental Europe has
acquired Portegies Drugstore in the Netherlands. An agree-
ment to integrate the Dutch operation into the Group’s health
and beauty portfolio by rebranding all the stores under one of
the A.S. Watson operating brands started from August.
In the UK, the Group has also completed the acquisition of
the Merchant Retail Group, including The Perfume Shop, that
will continue to run as a stand-alone business.
In Asia, Watsons’ Personal Care Stores Sdn Bhd (Watsons),
the Malaysian unit of A.S. Watson Group, has announced the
successful acquisition of Apex Pharmacy Sdn Bhd from Apex
Healthcare Bhd.
Newsbites
R
C
That’s What You Call Networking
3 Hong Kong has again taken
the lead in local 3G network development by
being the first mobile operator to provide full
3G coverage for the entire MTR network,
including the Island Line, Airport Express Line,
Kwun Tong Line, Tung Chung Line, Tsuen Wan
Line, Disneyland Resort Line and Tseung Kwan
O Line. By extending 3G coverage to all the
MTR stations, 3’s 3G network will provide
customers with truly seamless 3G video
communication and high-speed video content. T
H O N G K O N G
N E T H E R L A N D S
BROTHERLY LOVE
The winners of this year’s Big Brother
show in Australia attended the opening of the 3 Shop in
Canberra to the delight of hundreds of fans. 3 is the first
operator to give Canberra’s retail consumers a full 3G
offering, comprising handsets, content, services such as
video calling, and capped voice pricing.
A U S T R A L I A
T
H O N G K O N G
DOUBLE TOPS
Hutchison
Whampoa Limited (HWL) was
No 1 in the Yazhou Zhoukan
Top 500 Chinese Companies in
the world rankings for the
ninth consecutive year. The
rankings are based on market
capitalisation.
Meanwhile, Global Finance
magazine rated HWL as the
best company in Asia in the
conglomerate category.
H O N G K O N G
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