*

CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) and sister company to report results on

Thursday

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State-owned media posts second critical editorial on port

deal

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China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office reposted

commentary

By Clare Jim

HONG KONG, March 17 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-based

conglomerate CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ), which is facing pressure

from Beijing authorities over a port deal with a BlackRock ( BLK )-led

consortium, will not hold earnings conferences this

week, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

CK Asset ( CHKGF ), a property developer in Hong Kong which

also has interests in overseas utility assets, told Reuters on

Monday it will not hold analyst and media conferences.

"This is very rare for a blue-chip company not to hold an

earnings conference," said an analyst briefed on the matter, who

declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to

the media.

"The company has not said anything since the port deal. The

stock market could view this negatively."

Both companies are due to report their 2024 financial

results on Thursday. Neither provided the reasons for their

decisions.

While CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) confirmed it will not hold a media

briefing when asked by Reuters, it did not say whether it still

planned to hold an analyst briefing.

They have held analyst conferences for both their

semi-annual and annual results for many years as well as media

briefings for their annual results.

CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) said this month it had agreed to sell most of

its global ports business, including assets it holds along the

strategically important Panama Canal, to a group led by

BlackRock ( BLK ). It will receive more than $19 billion in cash

proceeds under the deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called for the Panama

Canal to be removed from what he says is Chinese ownership, has

hailed the deal.

China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) on

Thursday reposted a commentary criticising the deal as a

betrayal of China, sending the conglomerate's shares sharply

lower the following day.

The article, originally published in Hong Kong-based

state-owned newspaper Ta Kung Pao, said the deal neglects

national interests and shows CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) is profit-seeking.

HKMAO on Saturday reposted another Ta Kung Pao editorial in

which the paper criticised CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) and said Hong Kong

companies must stand with China in the face of what it called

"U.S. hegemony".