Yum China Shuts 3,000 China Stores Over Coronavirus

KFC operator Yum China has closed one third of its restaurants in China

Colonel Sanders’ fingerlickin’ fried chicken leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that the Shanghai-based operator of mainland China fast food chains including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell has temporarily closed one third of its restaurants amid the coronavirus epidemic.

In other news around the region, a trio of Thai heavyweights bid for Tesco’s $10 billion Southeast Asia business, while Hong Kong’s largest cosmetics retailer cuts directors’ pay by 75 percent. Elsewhere, Singapore relaxes curbs on foreign developers taking on housing projects in the city.

KFC, Pizza Hut Operator Shuts over 3,000 Stores in China

Yum China Holdings, the Shanghai-based operator of Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell restaurants in mainland China, has been forced to temporarily close about a third of its restaurants because of the coronavirus outbreak, it said overnight in a press release.

The company, which owns 9,200 stores in more than 1,300 cities in China, said its 2020 sales and profit would be hit by the outbreak, which has forced retailers ranging from Starbucks and McDonald’s to Nike and Adidas to shut stores, as part of efforts to contain its spread. Read more>>

China’s Property Market Stalls Amid Virus Outbreak

The coronavirus outbreak is delivering a painful blow to China’s $43tn property market as developers close sales centres and potential homebuyers delay the search for new flats.

The impact of the crisis on China’s property market, which some estimate makes up 25 per cent of gross domestic product, is threatening to weigh down the country’s economic growth to 4 per cent in the first quarter, according to several analysts. Read more>>

Thai Conglomerates Bid for Tesco’s $10B SE Asia Stores

Three Thai family conglomerates have submitted formal first-round bids for the Thai and Malaysian operations of UK retailer Tesco and started second-round talks over a deal expected to fetch as much as $10 billion.

Charoen Pokphand, the sprawling conglomerate that owns Thailand’s 7-Eleven convenience stores; Central Group, Thailand’s biggest department store operator; and TCC Group, controlled by brewing billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, all entered bids in mid-January to buy Tesco Lotus, according to two people close to the situation. Tesco’s disposal of its south-east Asian supermarkets is expected to be one of Asia’s biggest deals this year. Final bids are expected to be submitted by late February or early March, said people close to the transaction. Read more>>

Sa Sa Cuts Directors’ Pay Amid Hong Kong Retail Slump

Sa Sa International, Hong Kong’s biggest cosmetics retailer, is asking its executive directors to take a 75 percent pay cut for three months to help reduce costs, after sales during the Lunar New Year holiday slumped amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The move follows a report showing the group’s sales in Hong Kong crashed by 77.9 percent in the first week of the Chinese New Year as the coronavirus outbreak kept mainland tourists at home. Including Macau, sales slumped 76.9 percent. Read more>>

Singapore Press Holdings Mulls Listing Student Housing Assets

Listing its purpose-built student accommodation assets is a “possibility”, among other opportunities it seeks to improve shareholder value, said Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) yesterday.

Its statement came after Bloomberg – citing sources close to the matter – reported that SPH is planning to list those UK-based assets in Singapore through a real estate investment trust, in a deal that would value those properties at more than $1 billion. Read more>>

India’s Prestige Estates Raises $64.7M Through Equity Sale

Realty firm Prestige Estates Projects Ltd has raised Rs 462.64 crore ($64.7 million) through sale of shares to institutional investors.
The fund raising committee of the company”s board has approved the allotment of around 1.24 crore equity shares at Rs 372.50 apiece, aggregating to Rs 462.64 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing. The issue opened on January 30, 2020, and closed on February 4, 2020.

Last month, the company had raised Rs 437 crore through preferential allotment of shares to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.The board had allotted 1,34,41,654 shares of Rs 10 each to GIC affiliate firm on a preferential allotment basis, at a price of Rs 325 per equity share. Read more>>

Singapore Relaxes Curbs on Foreign Residential Developers

Some Singapore-listed housing developers can now apply to be exempted from the Qualifying Certificate rules imposed on foreign housing developers, provided they have a “substantial connection to Singapore”.

This will spare them from having to pay hefty extension charges if they cannot meet stipulated deadlines to complete developing their projects and selling all the units. 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.