One tycoon is suing another in Hong Kong for failing to settle HK$150 million (US$19 million) arrears as the pandemic continues to squeeze business revenues.

Retail player Thomas Lau, who runs Sogo department stores in the city, wants to haul to court media magnate Charles Ho, chair of the Sing Tao News Corporation.

The trigger for the lawsuit is a HK$150 million check from Ho that was dated Oct. 26. Lau last month failed to cash the check and had since notified Ho in legal letters, to no avail, according to a writ filed by Lau in the High Court on Tuesday.

When Apple Daily called Ho for a response, the telephone line went dead shortly after the newspaper revealed its identity to him. Apple Daily is contacting Lau for comment.

Lau is chairperson of Hong Kong-listed Lifestyle International Holdings, which reported a loss of HK$227 million in the first half of the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue from its Sogo department stores in Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui plummeted by 50% and 70 % respectively during the period.

As uncertainty lingered due to continuing coronavirus outbreaks, Lifestyle said it remained pessimistic about Hong Kong’s retail sector in the second half. In October, the company sold HK$70.6 million worth of Evergrande Group bonds to raise operational capital.

Sing Tao, meanwhile, enlarged its losses by almost sevenfold to HK$61.29 million in the first half as revenue from advertising dropped 40%.

The pro-Beijing media company is requiring its staffers to take four days of unpaid leave each month between January and March, despite receiving a total of HK$50 million in COVID-19 relief from the government this year.

A month after issuing a profit warning, Sing Tao in March slashed salaries for most of its employees, including part-timers, by up to 25%. General staffers saw cuts of 10% to 15%, while board directors and senior executives had their pay reduced by 25%.

Ho drew a salary of HK$8.81 million for the whole of last year, up 7.5% from 2018, Sing Tao’s annual report showed.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play