Wing Tai Buys Remaining 50% of Melbourne Properties and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Wing Tai buys out the remaining stake in several jointly owned properties in Australia, the HKEX freezes trading of 33 firms’ shares on earnings delays, and Societe Generale reportedly relocates at least a dozen traders from Hong Kong to Singapore.

Wing Tai Buys Remaining 50% Stake in Melbourne Properties for $37M

Singapore-listed Wing Tai Holdings on Thursday announced that its Wingspring Trust unit has bought the remaining 50 percent interest in its freehold properties in Melbourne for A$49.4 million ($37.1 million).

The properties are 464-466 St Kilda Road and units 112-218, 23 of Brooklands Car Park on Queens Road and Wing Tai had originally invested in them in 2018 through a 50:50 joint venture with a trust managed by Australia’s Abacus property.Read more>>

Mainland Builders Among 33 HKEX Stocks Frozen After Earnings Delays

Trading in 33 Hong Kong-listed stocks was halted on Friday after a number of firms missed a deadline to report annual results, in a move that is expected to affect some $15 billion worth of shares.

Troubled Chinese developers, including Sunac China Holdings and Shimao Group Holdings, were among the stocks suspended. China Aoyuan Group said publishing unaudited results at this stage could “potentially be misleading to the shareholders and potential investors”. This year’s number compares with 57 for 2021 and at least nine for 2020. Read more>>

Singapore’s LHN Logistics Files for IPO

LHN Logistics lodged its preliminary offer document late Wednesday as its parent company, property player LHN, seeks its spin-off and listing on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange.

The document states that part of the gross proceeds raised from the placement will go towards the logistics services group’s plans to increase its scale of operations by growing its transport fleet. Read more>>

SocGen Temporarily Shifts Traders From Hong Kong to Singapore

Societe Generale is temporarily relocating at least a dozen traders from Hong Kong to Singapore as the Chinese territory’s stringent COVID-19 strategy spurs Wall Street and European firms to move some staff out of Asia’s largest financial hub.

The traders, who work across fixed income and equity derivatives, will be based in the city-state for at least eight weeks, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The moves will begin in April and it’s unclear whether the individuals will eventually stay longer, said one of the people, who declined to be identified discussing private information. Read more>>

Home Sales Rebounded in China’s Big Cities in March

Large Chinese cities’ housing markets recovered in March, while smaller cities are predicted to follow suit.

In first-tier cities, housing transactions based on floor area expanded 12 percent from February, according to statistics from the China Index Academy. In second-tier cities, the increase was 32 percent. But when compared with last March, declines were accelerating. Read more>>

Fujian Developers Brought Low by China Property Crisis

In February, Ou Zongrong’s Zhenro Properties Group spooked investors by saying it might not have the cash to redeem a perpetual note, just weeks after promising it would. In fact, it said it might not have enough liquidity to repay other near-term maturities.

That was a shock for investors in a developer that had been weathering China’s massive real estate crisis relatively well, never missing a public debt payment until then. Read more>>

Chinese Developers Say Access to Funding Remains Challenging

China’s pledges to shore up its embattled property industry have done little to boost prospects for the sector, said developers, with access to funding still challenging and many local government authorities reluctant to ease rules more effectively.

The world’s second-largest economy needs more decisive policy easing at the city level to stimulate demand from wary buyers and inject new credit to stop more property-related firms from defaulting, executives at top developers said. Read more>>

Frasers Property Gets $131M Green Loan for UK Commercial Project

Frasers Property said Thursday that it had secured a £100 million ($131 million) five-year revolving green credit facility to finance the development of The Rowe, a 12-storey office building in Whitechapel, London, which has already attained BREEAM UK Interim Certificate with an Excellent rating.

The green loan will have a reduction in interest margin on its first drawdown, which will be maintained if The Rowe retains the BREEAM Excellent rating, the company said in a filing with the Singapore Exchange. Read more>>

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