So generous, in fact, that their payout is more than their earnings.

The market watchers at Quamnet.com worked that one out yesterday.

But Guangshen's generosity to investors is nothing compared with the company's largesse showered on employees.

In January last year, the firm spent HK$82 million on a luxury residential property in Cambridge Road, Kowloon Tong to 'accommodate the staff engaged in the through-train services when they are sent to Hong Kong'. And this is no warren of shoe-box flats.

It consists of two separate detached houses. One of them is two storeys high, the other four.

Each house has a site area of about 5,000 square feet with a garden and garage.

And the opulent pads are handily located just a stone's throw from the nearest clutch of love hotels.

Now Lai See doesn't usually go around questioning other people's spending decisions.

But it sounds to us like someone there has gone off the rails.

Let's just hope they don't take the company with them.

Sharp slash: Lai See appreciates a sarky banking analyst.

And Anthony Lok is one such.

He works for Nomura International, and has been busily crunching the latest HSBC numbers.

The bank hit the headlines when it announced plans to transfer its card operations centre to Guangzhou throwing 280 people out of work.

That should be a real cost cutter, what with Guangzhou staffers earning 40 per cent less than their Hong Kong counterparts.

These are the back office clerical workers, eking out a living on their HK$6,000 to HK$7,000 a month starting salaries.

Mr Lok reckons HSBC stands to save HK$40 million to $50 million a year on these employees.

He offered this perspective:

'This cost savings should be enough to cover the HK$26 million increase in salary for the top six executive directors seen in 2000, with some change left for 2001.'

Typical. When the cost-cutting knives come out, people tend to get stabbed in the back-office.

Plastic prank: Lai See has been liaising with various members of her international team of spies.

Yesterday we caught up with our New York agent.

He tells us that Alan Abel has struck again.

If you haven't heard of him, he's a media hoaxer.

He goes on air pretending to be someone he's not.

Like a Superbowl official or Watergate whistle-blower Deep Throat.

And he just wrought his latest bit of havoc on an unsuspecting CNN reporter.

The prankster posed as a Beverly Hills dog surgeon.

A dog plastic surgeon, to be precise.

The journo listened earnestly as Mr Abel explained his technique for removing wrinkles from animal faces and altered their mouths to make them smile.

But just as the tape was about to roll, a broadcast veteran recognised the broadcast's veterinarian.

It was pulled at the last minute.

Shame.

Lai See was looking forward to watching the pseudo-vet explain the dyeing technique used to make a dog's fur match the living-room sofa.

Graphic: whee15gbz