Shanghai Disneyland will reopen next week to reduced numbers
A US entertainment conglomerate leads Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that the Mickey Mouse outfit is about to reopen its Shanghai theme park after $1.4 billion was wiped off the company’s profits in the first quarter of the year.
In other news around the region, a home-sharing platform is cutting a quarter of its workforce, while the craze for investing in parking spaces in one Asian financial hub has stalled. Elsewhere, mainland China’s largest developer by contracted sales has posted a jump in the value of deals signed in April.
Shanghai Disney Reopens as COVID-19 Wipes $1.4B off Quarterly Profits
Walt Disney Co estimated that global measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic cut profits by $1.4 billion, mostly from its shuttered theme parks, but said it would reopen Shanghai Disneyland to a reduced number of visitors next week.
It is unclear when Disney’s other parks in Asia, the United States and France would again welcome visitors, executives said, or when the company’s range of idled businesses, including retail stores and cruise ships, would return. Read more>>
Airbnb Cutting 1,900 Jobs
Airbnb said on Tuesday it will slash one-fourth of its workforce – about 1,900 people – as the coronavirus pandemic crushes the travel industry.
The cuts are needed for the San Francisco-based company to survive until people start travelling anew, Airbnb co-founder and chief executive Brian Chesky said in a blog post. Read more>>
Hong Kong Craze for Car Parking Spaces Stalls
The worst for Hong Kong’s car parking space market is yet to come as investment demand for the asset class has largely evaporated and sentiment remains uncertain after the city’s economy fell by the most on record.
The total number of parking spaces that changed hands in April fell 67 percent from a year earlier to a seven-month low of 225, with turnover recording a much larger year-on-year decline of 84.2 percent to HK$358 million ($46.17 million), according to Land Registry data compiled by Hong Kong Property (Services). Read more>>
Hong Kong’s Biggest Cosmetics Retailer Sa Sa Warns of Record Loss
Hong Kong’s biggest cosmetics retailer Sa Sa International said it is preparing for its biggest ever annual loss as the coronavirus pandemic and anti-government protests reduced tourist arrivals to a trickle, damaging sales.
The beleaguered retailer said it could incur HK$500 million ($64.5 million) to HK$600 million loss in the year ended March 31, according to a profit warning in an exchange filing late Tuesday, versus a HK$471 million profit a year earlier. Read more>>
India Malls Facing 20% Vacancy
Malls and high streets could be staring at up to 20 percent of vacant real estate space as many retailers look to shut unprofitable stores due to a cash crunch triggered by COVID-19.
With new and stringent standard operating protocols (SOPs) in place, operating costs for retailers are expected to go up by 30 percent. Read more>>
Singapore Property Auction Sales Fall to Lowest Since 2011
Highly indebted owners continue to hold out even as more homes go under the hammer amid worsening economic conditions due to COVID-19.
A Knight Frank Q1 2020 auction report said the success rate (based on auction listings) in Q1 was at its lowest since 2011 at 0.4 percent, as a result of the mismatch in price expectations between buyers and sellers. Read more>>
Evergrande Records 11.6% Rise in Contracted Sales in April
China Evergrande said contracted sales in April rose 11.6 percent year-on-year to RMB 65.21 billion($9 billion), its best on record on a year-on-year basis, after signs of recovery in the mainland property market emerged.
Evergrande’s aggregate contracted sales in the first four months surged 19.4 percent to RMB 212.57 billion from a year before. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
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