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Company paid $668 mln in contributions, CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) says

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Tax exemptions have not been exclusively granted to the

company

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CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) calls to "protect the concession"

(Recasts lead paragraph, adds details, quotes from paragraph 2)

By Marianna Parraga and Roshan Thomas

April 9 (Reuters) -

A company controlled by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison ( CKHUF )

has invested $1.7 billion in two ports near the Panama

Canal, it said on Wednesday, surpassing the amount required

under its contract, which is being audited by Panamanian

authorities.

Panama Ports Company (PPC), in which CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) owns a

90% stake, had its 25-year operating concession for the Balboa

and Cristobal ports renewed in 2021.

The Panamanian government launched an audit of the

contract in January, potentially complicating a

high-profile deal

by a group led by U.S. investment firm BlackRock ( BLK )

for most of CK Hutchison's ( CKHUF ) global port business, including the

two ports.

Comptroller General Anel Flores

said this week

that the audit had already found that Panama "left $1.3

billion on the table" due to tax incentives and benefits granted

to CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ).

CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) has denied any wrongdoing or

irregularities, and on Wednesday it outlined how it had gone

beyond the financial conditions of the agreement.

It said its investments in Panama had surpassed not only

the $50 million required in the original concession contract

signed in 1997, but they had also eclipsed a $1 billion

requirement contained in a 2005 addendum.

"During the term of the concession, PPC has paid the

State $668 million ... far exceeding the contributions of any

other port operator in Panama," it said.

Tax exemptions granted to PPC by the government were

"precisely the same tax exemptions granted to all other port

operators in Panama," it added.

"Panama Ports Company continues to call for respectful

coordination and consultation to protect the concession," the

company said.

CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ), the telecoms-to-retail conglomerate owned

by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, has found itself caught in a

highly politicized tug of war since U.S. President Donald Trump

returned to office.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to take control of the

Panama Canal due to the presence of Chinese and Hong Kong firms

in the Central American country's maritime business and praised

the $22.8 billion BlackRock ( BLK ) deal.

Chinese authorities have criticized it however, and

China's market regulator is launching an antitrust review of it.

Panama's contract audit is nearing completion, state

comptroller Flores said this week. Since February, Panama's

Supreme Court and the attorney general's office have also

started reviews of the concession and the conditions of its

renewal.