SHKP Posts $3B Profit as Hong Kong Home Sales Climb 13%, Rental Income Steady

Sun Hung Kai Properties reported a full-year profit attributable to shareholders of HK$23.9 billion ($3 billion), down 6.5 percent, as the developer controlled by Hong Kong’s Kwok family narrowed its investment losses and reported solid residential sales in the city.

SHKP’s contracted sales in Hong Kong in attributable terms jumped 13 percent to HK$33.4 billion in the year that ended on 30 June, the blue-chip builder said Thursday in an HKEX filing.

Major sales contributors included Novo Land Phases 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B in Tuen Mun, University Hill Phases 2A and 2B near the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Wetland Seasons Bay Phase 3 in Yuen Long, as well as completed projects like The Cullinan adjoining the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon.

“Following a short recovery in early 2023, Hong Kong’s residential market softened in recent months amid uncertainties on the global economic outlook and elevated interest rates,” Raymond Kwok said in his chairman’s statement. “The primary residential market was relatively active with homebuyers preferring new large-scale projects complemented by comprehensive clubhouse facilities and good transport connectivity.”

Rental Income Growth

SHKP’s property investment portfolio in Hong Kong continued to provide sizeable recurring income, the company said. Gross rental income of the portfolio, inclusive of contributions from joint ventures and associates, rose 1 percent to HK$17.7 billion.

Occupancy at ICC remained at a “satisfactory level” while the International Finance Centre on the Central waterfront was almost fully let. Shopping malls in Hong Kong and mainland China saw an improvement in footfall and tenant sales post-pandemic.

Projects scheduled to come on stream in the second half of calendar 2023 include Townplace West Kowloon, a 374,000 square foot (34,746 square metre) “aparthotel” in Sham Shui Po.

The flagship property under the Townplace rental residential brand is set between the West Kowloon waterfront and Lin Cheung Road near Nam Cheong MTR station, which in turn is one stop along the Tuen Ma Line from Austin MTR station — the latter providing a connection to West Kowloon railway station and its mainland-bound high-speed trains.

Next year will see Yoho Mall in the New Territories’ Yuen Long area expand by 107,000 square feet of retail space with the debut of the Yoho Mix extension, while a 500,000 square foot mall underneath The Millennity in Kowloon East’s Kwun Tong will also open its doors.

Longer-Term Projects

In the long run, SHKP is eyeing a 2030 open for its Mong Kok integrated mega-project, which the group clinched with a bid of HK$4.73 billion ($602 million) in Hong Kong’s first commercial land sale of 2023. The development plan is yet to be finalised, but SHKP envisions more than 1.5 million square feet of offices, retail space and government accommodation.

The group is targeting 2026 for the completion of the Artist Square Towers project in the West Kowloon Cultural District and two towers atop the West Kowloon high-speed rail terminus. The developments will join SHKP’s completed ICC and two luxury hotels to form a commercial cluster with an aggregate 5.7 million square feet of Grade A office space.

SHKP is also working on a 110,000 square foot community mall project in Kwun Tong after winning a tender for the site last November with a bid of HK$296 million ($37.9 million).