Developer Evergrande Says Half-Year Profit May Triple and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

China’s biggest developer by home sales leads the news today with a prediction of a 300 percent increase in profit during the first half of 2017. Also in the headlines, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority may be getting uneasy about developer debt and one of Asia’s richest men gives Hong Kong a very large hole.

Developer Evergrande Says Half-Year Profit May Triple

Shares of China Evergrande Group, China’s largest developer, surged as much as 15 percent after the company said half-year profit may triple from a year earlier, driven by soaring property prices and rising sales of homes.

The stock was up 13 percent at HK$20.00 in Hong Kong as of 9:40 a.m., the biggest gain since May. In the year to date, the company’s market value has more than quadrupled. Read more>>

HK Central Bank Orders Close Watch on Developer Debt

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has asked banks to report on the credit situation of property developers by the middle of August, and to file this type of report every six months thereafter, sources said yesterday.

The city’s de facto central bank said it is necessary to conduct thematic examinations of banks to ensure that they continue to adhere to prudent lending standards as they provide credit to developers. Read more>>

K Wah Boss Turns Over Quarry Site to Make Way for 10,000 New HK Homes

Tycoon Lui Che-woo, a pioneer in Hong Kong’s quarrying industry who later built his wealth in the property and casino industries, will hand back to the government the city’s largest quarry site to make way for development of nearly 10,000 new apartments.

K. Wah Construction Materials (KWCM), renamed Galaxy Entertainment Group in 2005 and 41.2 per cent owned by Lui – was granted Hong Kong’s first contract quarry rights at Anderson Road, East Kowloon in 1964. The company will give up the quarry when the contract expires at 2pm Wednesday. Read more>>

Sunac Share Sale May Win Favor in Beijing

Sunac China Holdings Ltd. is finally doing something Beijing likes — deleveraging by selling equity. The developer’s HK$4 billion ($512 million) placement of 220 million shares is being done at 22 times earnings, by far the highest valuation in its trading history. While the deal surprised nobody, the next steps might.

Sunac’s Hong Kong-traded shares behave like a mainland stock. Chairman Sun Hongbin owns half of the company, while one-quarter is held by Chinese investors through the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect. Read more>>

Knight Frank Says China Outbound Wave to Take a Breather

Overseas real estate investment by large Chinese companies is likely to stay muted this year, amid tightened regulatory scrutiny, although buoyant activity may emerge from some smaller players, according to real estate consultants.

Knight Frank executive director Paul Hart said the government’s regulatory reviews on some of China’s biggest offshore asset buyers, including Anbang, Fosun, HNA Group and Wanda, have put the brakes their overseas acquisitions plans, while also sending a chill across the broader corporate community. Read more>>

Only 1% of Hong Kongers Say It’s a Good Time to Buy Homes

Just one per cent of Hongkongers considered it a good time to buy property in the second quarter of this year, according to a latest Citibank survey.

Lawrence Lam, head of retail banking of Citibank Global Consumer Banking, said a “wait-and-see” attitude has firmly set in when it comes to buying real estate in the city. Read more>>

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