Various government departments together with a group of volunteers today (April 27) conducted a joint shoreline cleanup operation to collect refuse along the remote rocky beach in Kung Pui Wan, Tap Mun. A total of two tonnes of refuse was collected.
 
     The departments participating in today's operation were the Environmental Protection Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Marine Department (MD).
      
     A spokesman for the Inter-departmental Working Group on Marine Environmental Management said, "It is not easy to carry out cleanup operations on the beach of Kung Pui Wan, Tap Mun. The beach, facing the windy and wavy sea, is not easily accessible by working vessels and the rough terrain connecting the rocky beach also increases the difficulty of routine cleaning work. During the operation, FEHD cleaners and volunteers needed to pack the refuse collected and transport it on foot to a nearby pier for temporary storage. The FEHD staff then conveyed the refuse to the MD's collection vessel in batches for sending it to a garbage collection point for centralised handling."
      
     The spokesman added, "In order to minimise the risk of possible spreading of COVID-19, the cleaning operation was carried out in groups of no more than four participants each. All of them maintained an appropriate distance with others and paid heed to personal protection, including wearing masks."
      
     The spokesman expressed sincere thanks to the volunteers for taking part in cleaning Kung Pui Wan's rocky beach in recent days, and called on members of the public to work together to keep the countryside and shoreline clean during their outings. Hikers are urged to take their litter away to protect countryside scenery and the ecosystem.
      
     For information on clean shorelines, please visit the "Clean Shorelines" Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cleanshorelines/ and its Instagram page: www.instagram.com/cleanshorelineshk/.

        

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited (HKMC) today (April 27) announced the highlights of its audited consolidated financial results for 2019 as follows:
 
2019 Financial Results Highlights
 

• Audited consolidated profit after tax was HK$317 million (Note 1)(2018:
  HK$127 million)

• Return on shareholder’s equity was 2.1% (Note 1)(2018: 0.9%)

• Cost-to-income ratio was 58.7% (Note 1)(2018: 86.0%)

• Capital adequacy ratio was 30.2% as at 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: 26.8%)

• The Board recommended no dividend be declared (2018: Nil)

 
2019 Business Performance Highlights
 
Asset Purchase  
 

• Purchased HK$1,877 million loan assets (2018: HK$288 million)

• Outstanding principal balance of loan portfolio was HK$6.9 billion at the end of 2019 (31 December 2018: HK$6.4 billion)

 
Debt Issuance  
 

• Issued in total HK$17.7 billion corporate debts (Note 2)(2018:
  HK$12.4 billion), being the most active corporate debt issuer in Hong Kong.  Among them, the HKMC had issued 30-year bonds totalling HK$1.2 billion to promote the fixed-rate reverse mortgage business and local debt market development

• Outstanding balance of debt securities was HK$39.7 billion at the end of 2019 (31 December 2018: HK$37.3 billion)

• Credit ratings of AA+ from S&P Global Ratings and Aa3 from  Moody’s, same as those of the HKSAR Government

 
Mortgage Insurance Programme (MIP)
 

• New mortgage loans drawn down amounted to HK$33.3 billion (2018: HK$32.5 billion)

• 73% of loans drawn down (in terms of loan amount) were secured on properties in the secondary market, demonstrating the importance of the MIP to homebuyers in the secondary market

 
SME Financing Guarantee Scheme
 

• Approved 2,734 applications (2018: 1,714 applications) under the Special Concessionary Measures (i.e. the 80% Guarantee Product) with a total loan amount of approximately HK$13.8 billion (2018:
  HK$7.3 billion) in 2019, increased by 60% and 89% respectively as compared with 2018.  Since the launch of the 80% Guarantee Product in May 2012, 91% of the benefitted borrowers were small and medium-sized enterprises each with less than 50 employees

• Launched the 90% Guarantee Product on 16 December 2019. As at the end of December 2019, approved 19 applications with a total loan amount of approximately HK$39 million in slightly more than two weeks

 
Reverse Mortgage Programme (RMP)
 

• Approved 676 applications (2018: 782 applications) under the RMP, with an average property value of HK$6.2 million and an average monthly payout of HK$17,700       

 
HKMC Annuity Plan
 

• Issued 2,188 policies (2018: 5,422 policies), with total premiums received at around HK$1.6 billion (2018: HK$2.8 billion) and an average premium of HK$745,000

  
Further details of the HKMC’s consolidated financial results and financial review for 2019 are set out at the Annex.

Note 1: For comparison purposes, the adjusted profit after tax, return on shareholder’s equity and cost-to-income ratio for 2019 would be HK$443 million, 4.2% and 41.8% respectively after excluding an accounting loss made by the HKMC Annuity Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the HKMC, for maintaining prudent statutory reserves based on actuarial assumptions provided for the annuity business.

Note 2: For debts with tenor of one year or above

     The Labour Department (LD) is investigating a fatal work accident in Happy Valley this afternoon (April 27) in which a man died.

     The LD immediately deployed staff to the scene upon receiving a report of the accident, and is now conducting an investigation to look into its cause. 

      The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (April 27) investigating two suspected food poisoning clusters affecting nine persons, and reminded the public to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene to prevent food-borne diseases.

      The first cluster involved one male and six females aged two to 62, who developed abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and fever about 15 to 51 hours after having dinner at a restaurant in Causeway Bay on April 21.

      Another cluster involved two females aged 18, who developed similar symptoms about nine to 14 hours after having lunch at the same restaurant on April 22.

      Seven of the affected persons sought medical advice. Among them, two required hospitalisation and one was discharged after treatment. All affected persons are in a stable condition.
 
      "We have alerted the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to the incident and investigations are ongoing," a spokesman for the CHP said.

      To prevent food-borne diseases, members of the public are reminded to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene at all times. When dining out:

•Patronise only reliable and licensed restaurants;
•Avoid eating raw seafood;
•Be a discerning consumer in choosing cold dishes, including sashimi, sushi and raw oysters, at a buffet;
•Ensure food is thoroughly cooked before eating during a hot pot or barbecue meal;
•Handle raw and cooked foods carefully and separate them completely during the cooking process;
•Use two sets of chopsticks and utensils to handle raw and cooked food;
•Do not patronise illegal food hawkers;
•Drink boiled water;
•Do not try to use salt, vinegar, wine and wasabi to kill bacteria as they are not effective; and
•Always wash hands before eating and after going to the toilet.

     â€‹In response to media enquiries, a Government spokesman confirmed today (April 27) that the Political Assistant to the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Miss Pauline Yeung, has tendered her resignation. She is currently on leave and will leave the Government with effect from May 26.

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, thanked Miss Yeung for her contribution towards the bureau during her tenure, and wished her all the best in her future endeavours, the spokesman said.