Buoyed by Hong Kong club Eastern's new partnership with Real Madrid, "ambitious" boss Peter Leung Shou-chi has "set a goal few sports clubs in the world can attain -- a stock-exchange listing," according to Chan Kin-wa of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Acknowledging the idea would be "unrealistic to some," Leung said that he "wanted to set targets" outside of winning football titles. But the financial reality is that Eastern would "first have to break even" -- the team "suffered a multi-million dollar loss last season -- then show a positive cash flow" of at least HK$20M ($2.6M) in aggregate for two financial years before being able to list. That most basic of GEM listings also requires a market cap of HK$100M ($13M). A main board listing is "even more stringent," with profits of at least HK$50M in the last three financial years, including at least HK$20M in the most recent year, plus a market cap of HK$200M. Leung is hoping the joint venture with Real Madrid "will signal a change in their fortunes and build a foundation for a future listing." Leung: "We know some people may say this is unrealistic as investment in Hong Kong sports can never make a profit to fulfill listed company requirements. But it is always important to set a target so we can work towards it and be successful. It will never happen if we don't try and we hope our results in the upcoming season can be the first step towards our goal" (SCMP, 7/14).
