A petition is to be held in the Supreme Court of Bermuda to see if shareholders of Bermuda-based but Hong Kong

Stock Exchange listed Chevalier Construction Holdings Ltd. will be privatised.

In a legal notice posted last week in the Royal Gazette, Chevalier's management will put forward the proposed privatisation of the company on January 30 as part of a petition.

Chevalier Construction Holdings Ltd., listed as CCHL, is a publicly listed company, which has under its wings Chevalier (Construction) Company Ltd., Chevalier (Civil Engineering) Ltd., Chevalier Construction (Hong Kong) Ltd. and Lam Woo & Company Ltd.

The company has over 20 years in construction in Hong Kong and over 100 years on the part of Lam Woo. Chevalier is acknowledged as a major force of the Hong Kong construction industry.

According to their latest financial reports, for the six months ended 30th September, 2003, the group has maintained a substantial growth in turnover to HK$151 million ($19.4512 million) - a 73 percent increase compared with same period last year and operating profit increased to HK$5.4 million ($0.7 million) from HK$3.7 million ($0.5 million) a year earlier.

A statement said: "Despite the difficult market condition especially in the private sector due to the excessive supply in the property market, the group has successfully bid for several contracts from the HKSAR government. As of 30th September 2003, value of building construction and civil engineering contracts on hand for the Group amounted to approximately HK$385 million ($50 million) and HK$110 million ($14 million) respectively.

It said that after years of sluggishness, the economic environment in the US had shown some signs of improvement and business investment was beginning to show signs of life and corporate earnings are better than expected.

"In general, the upward momentum of the economy should be able to sustain in 2004," it added. "We believe that the worst is over for Hong Kong's economy. However, the group remains cautious in adjusting its business strategy even though the first half year result is much better than that of last year.

"The management will continue its policy to oversee its resources, control its operating expenses and strengthen the existing business. With the commitment from both the management and the employees, the board is optimistic on the group's performance in the financial year 2003/04."