A Lotte department store in Shenyang China
One of South Korea’s biggest conglomerates leads the news again today, as Lotte Group struggles to overcome geopolitical issues that have plagued its mainland business. Also in the headlines, two of Hong Kong’s biggest developers saw profits plunge in the first half of the year, and Sino-Ocean is the latest mainland developer to suffer an ABS setback. Read on for all these stories and more.
Lotte May Dump Five Mainland Stores as Political Fallout Continues
Lotte Group, reeling from a wave of anti-Korean sentiment in China for more than a year, is considering selling some of its department stores in the country, a move that would accelerate the conglomerate’s withdrawal from the world’s second-largest economy.
The sale of some of Lotte Shopping’s five malls is among options being reviewed in the country, a Lotte Group spokesman said, in response to an earlier Chosun Ilbo report. Read more>>
HongKong Land Profit Falls 64% in First Half
Hongkong Land’s profit for the first half of 2018 fell by 64% to US$1.12b from $3.11b last year, whilst revenue grew 86% to US$1.52b from US$816m. Underlying profit attributable to shareholders, meanwhile, dipped by 3% to US$455m.
In its financial statement, the company blamed the timing of sales completions in mainland China for lower profit. It was offset by higher contributions from Singapore. Read more>>
Hang Lung Net Profit Drops 24%
Hang Lung Properties (0101) reported a 24 percent drop in its underlying net profit to HK$2.32 billion for six months ended June 30, mainly due to declining property sales. An interim dividend of 17 HK cents was declared.
Revenue from property sales slumped 59 percent to HK$1.03 billion while property leasing in the mainland climbed 11 percent, 9 percent of which could be attributed to the appreciation of yuan over the period, according to chief executive Weber Lo Wai-pak, who just resumed his duties 16 days ago. Read more>>
Sino-Ocean’s RMB 10B ABS Application Put on Hold
The Shanghai Stock Exchange has temporarily suspended processing of Sino-Ocean Land’s application for approval to issue up to RMB 10 billion ($1.47 billion) in asset-backed securities, according to reports in the local media.
The hold-up for “Zhonglian Qianhai Open Source-Yangyang Real Estate No.1 Phase N Asset Support Special Plan” comes as China’s financial authorities begin to more tightly regulate sales of asset backed securities with more than RMB 5.4 billion of the financial instruments already being cancelled or put on hold this month. Read more>>
SG Condo Launch Sells 50 of 80 Units After Cooling Measures
Daintree Residence has sold 50 of the 80 apartments on offer over the weekend, in the first condominium sales launch since fresh property cooling measures kicked in on July 6.
Phase-one sales at the 327-unit project in Toh Tuck Road saw an average selling price of S$1,710 per sq ft (psf), according to developer S P Setia International – a tad lower than the $1,800 psf that it had earlier floated. There was a 5 per cent discount in play at the weekend launch. Read more>>
Condo Complex in SG’s Paya Lebar Aims for S$65M Collective Sale
Fragrant Gardens off Upper Paya Lebar Road has just put itself on the market for a collective sale with a reserve price of $65 million.
This translates to a land rate of approximately $1,204 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), said marketing agent Knight Frank. With no development charge payable, and with the inclusion of a 10 per cent bonus balcony gross floor area, the land rate works out to approximately $1,094 psf ppr, subject to authorities’ approval. Read more>>
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