Cable & Wireless Plc said on Friday that a newspaper report in Hong Kong that it was preparing to sell part of its 57.5% stake in Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd was entirely speculative. The report suggested that it was prepared to sell part of the stake, but only in return for better access to the Chinese mainland market; the Hong Kong Standard quoted an unidentified source at the company saying it was prepared to trade part of its holding in Hong Kong Telecom for a stake in a venture with one of China’s regional telephone companies – but that no such deal had been offered yet; the paper also said that the company planned to set up a new division called the Asia Development Council to be headquartered in Singapore in a bid to reduce its dependence on Hong Kong Telecom for its profits, and that the division would be run by deputy chief executive Rod Olsen.
