PRESS RELEASE CASH Announces 2004 Interim Results (Hong Kong, 18 August 2004) - Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited (“CASH” or together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) [HKSE: 1049] today announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2004. During the period under review, the Group recorded a 20.3% increase in turnover to HK$535.3 million as compared with the same period last year. Net loss attributable to shareholders was HK$35.9 million during the period. The net loss was mainly attributable to the price and margin pressure in the furniture and household market, and the costs of developing the Group’s global distribution network. With the efforts paid in the past years, the Group’s financial services business – CASH Financial Services Group Limited (“CFSG”), turned around to make a net profit attributable to shareholders of HK$26.1 million during the period. “Such results reflected that our efforts in diversifying our product offerings started to bear fruits,” continued Mr. Kwan. By leveraging on the cross-selling synergies, CFSG started its wealth management business to complement existing financial services efforts. With now a strengthened capital base, CFSG will continue to maintain its cost leadership so as to capture future market opportunities. Nonetheless, the Group’s furniture and household retailing business – Pricerite Group Limited (“Pricerite”), suffered from a slow recovery in the furniture and household sector during the first half of 2004, as evidenced in the yearlong decline in Consumer Price Index in durable goods items, and a sluggish growth in sales in furniture market during the period. CASH announces 2004 interim results 1/4 “Despite these difficulties, we continued to strengthen Pricerite’s business edges with an aim to develop sustainable long-term growth,” said Mr. Bankee Kwan, Chairman and CEO of CASH. During the period, Pricerite started to revamp its merchandise and continued to invest in its management information system to facilitate management decision-making. For its international business, Pricerite secured a supply chain management contract with a Saudi investment Group, ARTAR, and a new retail store is expected to be opened in Riyadh in June 2005. The fourth Shenzhen retail outlet was opened with satisfactory progress during the period, and the Guangzhou store will be relocated to Tian He region soon. The Shanghai outlet is planned to open upon receiving the approval of the CEPA license, which is expected to be obtained within the year. The Group’s IT business - Halo Group Limited (“Halo”), and brand management business Cosmos Global Limited (“CGL”), are in satisfactory progress in their respective markets. During the period, Pricerite, CGL and Halo started to develop international trading and supply chain management with European counterparts through joint initiatives. “We are confident that the Group will continue to capitalize on the recovering global and domestic economies. We expect to enjoy a long-term growth by developing our international business, re-engineering our furniture and household business, and further expanding our financial services business. By leveraging on internal synergies, we are in the best position to capture market opportunities therearise,” concluded Mr. Kwan. The Group’s financials remained healthy during the period under review. The Group’s liquidity ratio remained healthy at 1.2 times on 30 June 2004, virtually unchanged from 31 December 2003. The Group’s total bank borrowings on 30 June 2004 slightly increased to HK$342.3 million from HK$341.9 million on 31 December 2003. On 30 June 2004, the cash and bank balances of the Group were HK$632.7 million, as compared to HK$664.5 million on 31 December 2003. Attachment: Unaudited consolidated results for the six months ended 30 June 2004 CASH announces 2004 interim results 2/4 About Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited CASH is a Hong Kong based multi-faceted service conglomerate that focuses on addressing the modern consumer needs in investment, finance, home improvement, and lifestyle products and services. CASH controls two listed companies in Hong Kong - CASH Financial Services Group [GEM: 8122] and Pricerite Group [SEHK: 996]. Complementing the recurring income from the services business is its high growth strategic investments in IT solutions. Additional information is available at www.cash.com.hk. - END The unaudited consolidated results of the Group for the six months ended 30 June 2004 together with the comparative figures for the last corresponding period are as follows: Unaudited six months ended 30 June 2003 2004 HK$’000 HK$’000 Turnover Other operating income Cost of sales Salaries, allowances and commission Other operating, administrative and selling expenses Depreciation and amortisation Finance costs Write back of bad and doubtful debts Impairment loss recognised in respect of property and equipment 535,274 (271,459) (121,565) (143,980) (26,550) (3,948) 3,013 - 445,112 26,500 (248,871) (91,536) (138,461) (28,329) (1,797) (1,580) Loss before taxation Taxation charge (29,215) (250) (38,962) - Loss before minority interests Minority interests (29,465) (6,391) (38,962) 6,483 Net loss attributable to shareholders (35,856) (32,479) (9.8) cents (10.3) cents (9.8) cents (10.3) cents Loss per share - Basic - Diluted CASH announces 2004 interim results 3/4