Hong Kong-Based Telecom Reports $1 Billion Loss.

Byline: Jonathan Fenby

Mar. 23--Less than two months after circling Cable & Wireless (C&W), Hong Kong's most dashing tycoon has reported a net loss of HK$7.7 billion ($1 billion) on what was once one of the former colony's most glamorous businesses.

The loss at Richard Li's PCCW telecommunications group was caused largely by a write-off of HK$8.2 billion on its half stake in an undersea cable operation, Reach.

But the figure stands in stark contrast to the euphoria which accompanied PCCW's launch at the turn of the millennium amid the internet an