HONG KONG (Bloomberg) -- Once the corporate bedrock of British colonial Hong Kong, the "Noble House'' of Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. isn't getting much respect these days.

Competitors are threatening to raid its assets, China regularly issues a variety of snubs and market analysts are decidedly unimpressed with its flat earnings, especially when compared with the soaring China-connected ''red chips''.

"The Jardines have learned that outside their sphere of expertise -- that is, Hong Kong and China -- they are nobody,'' said Nam Park, an analyst at ING Baring Securities (H.K.) Ltd.

"Now it looks as if they want to bring some life back to the group but can they match against the likes of the Cheung Kongs and Citics of this world?'' On Friday, Jardine Matheson reported a 32 percent rise in first-half earnings to $281 million. Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd., the company's 58-percent owned unit that in turn owns 36 percent of Jardine Matheson, said six month profit slipped 19 percent to $173 million.

The news was below expectations.

Since shifting the trading of its shares 1,600 miles to Singapore two years ago, the $21 billion Jardine group has found many of its investors haven't quite come along for the journey. Many saw the move as a vote of no-confidence in Hong Kong's future under China. Now, the 165-year-old conglomerate is try to scratch its way back, approaching China more or less tail between the legs.

The lesson has been painful. Jardine's shares rose a mere eight percent over the past two years while Hong Kong developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd.

gained close to two-thirds in value.

Jardine -- on which James Clavell based his book "Noble House'' -- has an historical burden to carry in dealing with China. Its Scottish founders, William Jardine and James Matheson, built their fortune running the opium trade to China aboard their clipper ships. The Chinese regard the loss of Hong Kong to China in the Opium Wars of the 1840s as a humiliation that has finally been remedied with the return of the territory this past July 1.

It didn't help Jardine's position with China when it moved the primary listing of its shares to London and its secondary listing to Singapore in the wake of the 1989 crackdown on democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

The years in exile have been rather painful for the group, which moved its legal domicile to Bermuda in 1984. It has been through many failed investments in Southeast Asia and the UK.

Last March, the group sold its stake in British engineering company Trafalgar House Plc for $343 million, a third less than the price it paid. It also closed Sizzler restaurants in Australia and took a $50 million one-time loss.

Elsewhere in Asia, its investment-banking arm Jardine Fleming has paid hefty fines after its star fund manager was caught cheating clients by pocketing trading profits.

"They've been buying the wrong stuff, moving to wrong places and saying the wrong things,'' said Andrew Look, a fund manager at Prudential Portfolio Managers Asia Ltd., which manages a total of $300 million in Asian funds.

"They must do a lot, a lot to re-establish themselves with the new boss. One or two cocktail parties won't do.'' They're certainly trying.

In May, Henry Keswick and the group's managing director, Alasdair Morrison, met Zhu Rongji, China's chief economic policymaker. Analysts read that as a sign the British group was making extraordinary efforts to improve its ties with China.

"We've always been positive about doing business in China and that reinforced our commitment,'' Morrison said.

Last month, the group said it was negotiating to sell a stake in its banking arm. Jardine Fleming, to Ka Wah Bank Ltd., controlled by China's biggest investment company.

Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd., the group's retailing and food processing unit, has set up joint ventures to run a supermarket chain on the mainland, Morrison said.

In Beijing, he said Hongkong Land is eyeing a residential development project and Mandarin Oriental is interested in a hotel project.

Even then, Look at Prudential doubts the Jardine group will be able to keep up with their Hong Kong peers.

"They ain't going to make it overnight,'' he said. "It'll take them a long long time to convince people they're serious about doing business in Hong Kong and China.'' What the Jardine group sometimes seems to have lost sight of is the extent to which its fate is tied with Hong Kong's.

A local saying goes that with every dollar one spends in Hong Kong, five cents goes to the pockets of Li Ka-shing, the local tycoon who controls Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.

Of course, at least that much goes to Jardine.

From buying a pint of milk to buying a Mercedes Benz, from renting an apartment on The Peak to an office suite in Central, Jardine's businesses are everywhere.

Still, rumours that Li might rekindle his ten-year-old ambition to take over the bulwark of British colonial rule was enough to send the Jardine shares soaring.

In August, the market value of the two Jardine companies rose by $2.7 billion in just two days after Li's two flagship companies each amassed a three-percent stake in Jardine Matheson and Hongkong Land.

Li insisted "they're for investment purposes only'', scooping up the Jardine shares after they had dropped in value.

Even Jardine is spending millions of dollars buying back its own shares to keep them from sliding. On May 2, the shares fell to as low as $5.30, the lowest seen since November, 1995.

Since then, the stocks have surged. Jardine Matheson has gained 23 percent since December, outperforming Hong Kong's 33-stock Hang Seng Index, which rose five percent.

"There's little to give a significant growth in earnings,'' said Anil Daswani, an analyst at Salomon Brothers Asia Ltd. "But the change in sentiment is largely due to the news that Li Ka-shing has picked up a stake in the two companies.''