As China land sales surge Li Ka-shing is cashing out in Chengdu
China’s housing market has heated up after an extended dry spell, and with developer appetites for land surging, Hong Kong’s Li Ka-shing has decided to sell off a mixed-use project in Chengdu while the sun is still shining.
In less encouraging news, Shanghai’s Fosun International is warning that more than three-quarters of the profit from its dearly purchased Club Med group is vanishing like a summer romance and Singapore joins the crowd of Asian cities reporting shrinking office markets.
CK Asset Sells Chengdu Project to Yuzhou Joint Venture
CK Asset (1113.HK), founded by tycoon Li Ka-shing, said it had sold a residential and commercial development project in the southwest Chinese city of Chengdu for around $1 billion.
The company expected an unaudited gain of HK$3.8 billion ($490.22 million) from the disposal to a company jointly owned by Chinese property developers Yuzhou Group (1628.HK) and Chengdu Ruizhuo Real Estate Co, it said in a filing on Thursday night. Read more>>
Fosun Warns of 76% Profit Slide at Club Med
Fosun International, the owner of Club Med resort chain, has told investors to expect up to a 76 percent slide in earnings for the first six months this year as the coronavirus pandemic crushed its tourism-related business.
The group is expected to generate 1.8 billion to 2 billion yuan (US$285 million) of earnings in the first half, compared with 7.61 billion yuan in the same period in 2019, it said in an exchange filing later Friday. The profit warning was based on a preliminary assessment of its management accounts. Read more>>
SG Office Market Contracted in Q2 as Vacancy Climbed to 12%
Net absorption of office space in Singapore shrank by a record 55,000 square metres of net lettable area in the second quarter of this year.
Meanwhile, the island-wide office vacancy rate climbed to 12.1 per cent from 11 per cent at the end of Q1 2020, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Read more>>
Retail Rents Slide 3.5% in Singapore
Rentals of retail space in Singapore’s central region shrank 3.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2020 over the previous three months, after easing 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020.
Data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday also showed that prices of retail space in the central region fell 1.5 per cent in Q2 2020, although this was a smaller drop than the 3.1 per cent decrease in the previous quarter. Read more>>
Former Huayuan Group Chairman Ren Zhiqiang Accused of Corruption
Ren Zhiqiang, a prominent real estate tycoon and a vocal critic of the Communist Party leadership, has been expelled from the party and is expected to face criminal charges, Chinese authorities announced late on Thursday.
Ren had been at odds with the party’s leadership on “issues of principles” and had published articles against “the Four Cardinal Principles”, a reference to the unchallenged leadership status of the CCP, according to an announcement by the Xicheng district committee of discipline inspection in Beijing. Read more>>
Ikea Opens First Inner City Store in Shanghai
Ikea, a world’s leading home furnishings retailer, opened its first Ikea City in central Shanghai on Thursday to get closer to Chinese consumers, especially the younger generation, to enhance its omni-channel retailing experience through store designs, digital innovations and catering elements.
The move implements Ikea China’s transformation strategy that is centered on digitalisation and localisation it has adopted since last August. Read more>>
Chinese Vice Premier Vows to Control Real Estate Speculation
Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Friday stressed efforts to implement the long-term management mechanism to promote the sound and healthy development of its real estate sector.
Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a symposium on the country’s real estate work. While acknowledging the achievements obtained since the long-term mechanism was implemented, Han also emphasized the need to stick to the stance that “housing is for living in, not for speculation.” Read more>>
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