HONG KONG

HONG KONG -- Steel-to-property conglomerate Citic Pacific Ltd. posted Wednesday a 43% fall in its first-half net profit on lower contributions from its special steel division, and said it will continue to divest noncore assets while boosting investment in core businesses.
The firm, which suffered massive losses from Australian dollar positions that went sour late last year, said its net profit for the six months ended June 30 was 2.47 billion Hong Kong dollars ($319 million), down from HK$4.36 billion a year earlier. The result was higher than the average HK$1.90 billion forecast of three analysts surveyed earlier by ...