Luckin Coffee Q2 Losses Hit $92M and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Caffeine wars lead the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of real estate headlines today as China’s pretender to the Starbucks throne roasted $92 million this past quarter in a bid to catch up with the US coffee titan.

In other news around the region, an Indian hotel chain pours $335 million into European student digs, while second quarter Singapore home sales soar, and an analyst says that some creative accounting may be painting particularly pretty picture of with an American co-working giant’s finances as it prepares for an IPO.

Elsewhere, property owners caught up in the Hong Kong street protests are slashing prices in an effort to attract buyers.

Luckin Q2 Losses Hit $92M in Head-to-Head with Starbucks

Chinese startup Luckin Coffee is steaming toward Starbucks as it looks to become the largest coffee chain in China this year, the company said.

The coffee chain is expanding aggressively, opening 593 new stores in the second quarter alone. With 2,963 outlets under its belt, Luckin now has Starbucks – which boasts 3,600 stores across China – in its crosshairs. Read more>>

Oyo Commits €300M to European Student Housing

Indian hospitality chain Oyo Hotels and Homes said it has committed to invest €300 million ($335 million) in Oyo Vacation Homes in a bid to expand its presence in Europe.

The SoftBank-backed company previously acquired Amsterdam-based Leisure Group in a reported all-cash $415 million deal and rebranded it to Oyo Vacation Homes. Read more>>

Singapore Private Home Sales Jump 43.5%

Developers sold 1,178 private homes in July, up 43.5 percent from the 821 units they moved in June, but 31.7 percent lower than the bumper crop of 1,724 units they sold in July last year during the last-minute rush to beat property cooling measures.

Last month, developers launched 911 units for sale, an increase of 36 percent from 670 units in June, but a sharp drop from the 2,239 units in July last year. Read more>>

Accounting Change Helps Cut WeWork Losses

Investors may be stumped by some of the finances WeWork owner We Company unveiled this week in its filing to go public, in particular a $486 million gain on a convertible note that made losses at the coworking firm appear a lot smaller.

The gain reduced the pace of expanding losses in the first six months of this year to a 25 percent increase from a year earlier rather than almost doubling it. Read more>>

WeWork Leases 1.2M Sq Ft in Pune

US-based coworking operator WeWork is expanding its India business and foraying into the Pune market where it has taken on lease over an office space of 1.22 lakh sqft to launch 24th centre in the country.

According to sources, WeWork has taken 1,22,165 sqft office space in Panchshil Realty’s commercial project ‘Panchshil Futura’ in Pune, Maharashtra. Read more>>

Hong Kong Homeowners Slash Prices 

Property owners in Yuen Long and North Point, two battlefield districts that have seen the most violent clashes in Hong Kong’s 10-week old protest rallies, are selling their flats at losses as they bail out of the market amid the worsening civic unrest.

Prices may dip 3 percent at housing estates across Hong Kong in August, agents said. They added sellers in Yuen Long in the New Territories have reduced prices by about 10 percent, while homeowners in North Point to the east of Hong Kong Island were asking for 5 percent less. Read more>>

INR 1.6T in Stalled India Housing Projects

Nearly 220,000 housing units, worth INR 1.56 trillion, launched in 2011 and before across seven major cities are yet to be completed by real estate developers, according to property consultant JLL India.

According to JLL data, the real estate companies of Delhi-NCR are the biggest defaulters as their contribution in delayed housing units accounts for 71 percent in volume and 56 percent in value terms. Read more>>

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