09:10     GET NICE<00064> - Announcement (2)                                  

    Accordingly, the Board made a clarification announcement on 9th September,
    2002 that certain recruitment plans were withheld due to the poor         
    market condition but indicated no intention to change the                 
    applications of the sales proceeds of the Share Offer as set              
    out in the Prospectus. The Company would adhere to the                    
    application of net proceeds as mentioned in the Prospectus and            
    resume appropriate plans when the Board thought fit.                      
    Unexpectedly, the stock market remained sluggish during the last          
    quarter of year 2002 and was further depressed by several local           
    corporate scandals and the diminished stock turnover. The                 
    Group's commission income from stock broking was unavoidably              
    dropped, by approximately 69% when comparing two months between           
    December 2002 and May 2002 (since the Company listed its Shares).         
    The Board is in the opinion that it is currently not an                   
    appropriate time to invest large sum in the areas of promotion,           
    advertising and recruitment of sales teams as well as upgrading           
    the computer system for the expansion of business capacity.               
    Further, the Board expects the capital-raising market will be             
    slow down in the coming years and considers the Group should              
    adopt a conservative approach in development of corporate                 
    finance business. Given the adverse changes in the market                 
    condition, the Board is in the view that the Reallocation to              
    reduce bank borrowings is in the best interest of the Company             
    and the Shareholders as a whole.                                          
                                                                              
    In light of the above, the Board proposes to adjust the unused            
    portion of proceeds from the Share Offer in the following manner:         
                                                                              
    Amount          Amount          Adjusted                                  
    As stated               utilised                unused          allocation
    Allocation of Share Offer proceeds      in the          as at           as
    at                                                                        
                    of unused                                                 
    Prospectus              13/1/2003               13/1/2003                 
    amount                                                                    
    HK$ million             HK$ million             HK$ million               
    HK$ million                                                               
                                                                              
    (1).    Recruiting additional experienced staff including                 
    account executives for                                                    
    the Group's brokerage business and consultants for the Group's            
    asset management business       4               -               4         
          -                                                                   
    (2).    Expanding the Group's margin finance business   13                
            13              -               -                                 
    (3).    Reducing the Group's bank borrowings    10              10        
          -                                                                   
            22.3                                                              
    (4).    Establishing and developing the Group's corporate finance         
    business        12              -               12              -         
    (5).    Working capital for the placing and underwriting                  
    activities      10              10              -               -         
    (6).    Upgrading the Group's computer system   3.5             0.2       
            3.3             -                                                 
    (7).    Promotion and advertising to enhance awareness of the             
    clients of the Group    3               -               3               - 
    (8).    General working capital 8.3             8.3             -         
          -                                                                   
                                                                              
    63.8            41.5            22.3            22.3                      
                                                                              
                                                                              
    As of 13th January, 2003, the Group had outstanding bank                  
    borrowings of approximately HK$64 million, comprising short term          
    bank loan of approximately HK$48 million and bank overdraft of            
    HK$16 million which were principally procured to finance margin           
    loan granted to securities margin clients. The Board will apply           
    HK$16 million to repay bank overdraft and the remaining balance           
    of HK$6.3 million to repay short term bank loans. However, the            
    actual repayment will depend on the level of overdraft which              
    is changing from time to time and the revolving short-term bank           
    loans will be extended for another period if the Company has              
    no surplus cash on hand. Given the Group was at a negative cash           
    position of approximately HK$80.6