In other news involving Hong Kong-traded China stocks, Gome fell by 4.6% yesterday after it said on Friday net profit dropped 88% in the first quarter on weak sales. (See story here.) The company also said on Friday that it would increase its investments in e-commerce, as competition heats up with rivals Suning, Yahoo-invested Taobao and others.

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The first half of 2003, ahead of the hot summer, brought no relief, with year-on-year sales off 7% and operating profit and net income down 10% and 34% respectively.

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Preliminary estimates show that private-company sales increased nearly 8 percent in 2012, and net profit margins, on average, increased to around 8 percent from around 5 percent in 2011.

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Its flagship brand is losing steam, having given away 2nd place in the cola rankings to Diet Coke and, as of the last quarter, reported a 3% sales decline on a 7% decline in net sales (yielding a 16% drop in operating profit for its Pepsi and Gatorade businesses).

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