Country Garden Said Cancelling Share Sale and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

A cash crunch for China’s largest home-builder leads today’s roundup of real estate headlines from around the region as Country Garden struggles with a slowing housing market. Also in the news, Hong Kong homeowners are getting motivated to sell and the HKEX finds a way to make China risks disappear.

Country Garden Cancels $300M Share Sale as Debts Loom

Country Garden Holdings cancelled a HK$2.34 billion ($300 million) share placement, IFR reported, citing a message sent to investors, the latest setback for one of China’s largest private-sector developers.

The primary share placement was cancelled shortly after midnight, sole bookrunner JPMorgan Chase told investors, according to the report. Earlier, IFR said Country Garden was offering 1.8 billion shares at a fixed price of HK$1.3 apiece. Read more>>

Hong Kong Homeowners Cutting Prices as Market Slides

Homeowners in Hong Kong are offering steep discounts as they race to offload their properties quickly before the market falls further.

In a recent case that underscores the trend, a seller in Tai Po was forced to take a 28 percent loss when he offloaded his property for HK$4.3 million (550,000) less than he had paid for it in 2019. Read more>>

Hong Kong Exchange Removes Requirement to Declare China Risks

Hong Kong’s stock exchange will no longer require companies to spell out China-related business risks in listing applications from Tuesday (1 Aug), in a move that aligns the city more closely with disclosure changes ordered by Beijing.

In its latest revision to listing rules, the bourse repealed a whole section focusing on risks from China’s policies and its business and legal environment, according to a consultation conclusion paper published on 21 Jul. Read more>>

Cancellation of Wing Tai’s Holland Village Deal Prompts Singapore Speculation

Wing Tai Holdings announced on 28 July that its wholly-owned subsidiary Wincove Investment has withdrawn from the en bloc purchase of Holland Tower for $76.3 million, a deal it had announced on March 15.

The Singapore-listed property developer cited “non-fulfilment of certain conditions” as the reason for pulling out of the deal. Wing Tai declined to comment further when contacted. Read more>>

Japanese Company Accused of Attempt at Improper Influence in Filipino Casino Fight

Officials of a Japanese entertainment company in a merger fight over a Manila casino resort sought to improperly influence a prominent Filipino legislator to regain control of the property, a special purpose acquisition company suing Universal Entertainment Corp alleged.

In a filing Monday in Delaware Chancery Court, the SPAC, 26 Capital Acquisition Corp, claimed that Universal executives brought “heavy luggage” to a meeting with Philippine House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez to try to secure his support in the dispute. They have been trying to take back control of the 100-acre (40-hectare) Okada Manila resort and casino, valued at $2.6 billion. Read more>>

Hang Lung Warns of Uncertainties After Boosting Profit 23%

Hong Kong developer Hang Lung Properties said it has a ‘fair chance’ of achieving a record year as it reported a 23 percent profit increase for the six months to June 30, although it warned that international and domestic risks to its business persist.

Net profit rose to HK$2.39 billion ($306 million) in the first half of the year, compared with HK$1.95 billion in the same period last year, while total revenue dropped 1 percent to HK$5.23 billion, according to an exchange filing on Monday. Read more>>

Mapletree REIT Earnings Dented by Exchange Woes

Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT) reported a 12.8 percent dip in its distribution per unit (DPU) to S$0.0218 for its first quarter ended Jun 30 on the back of higher interest rates, utility costs and a stronger Singapore dollar.

Sharon Lim, chief executive officer of the manager, said: “Because of the stronger Singapore dollar, contributions from the overseas properties were also impacted by foreign exchange effects when translated into Singapore dollars.” Read more>>

CapitaLand Ascendas REIT Declares Lower Distributions

(Clar) posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.07719 for the first half ended Jun 30, down 2 percent from the corresponding year-ago period, its manager announced on Monday (Jul 31).

This comes as the total amount available for distribution declined by 1 percent to S$327.5 million, which was attributed to higher interest expense resulting from rising interest rates as well as an enlarged unit base following the real estate investment trust’s (Reit) private placement in May. Read more>>

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