Shui On CFO Daniel Wan Resigns Amid Asset Sales

Daniel YK Wan has resigned from his post as chief financial officer for Shui On Land, as the highly geared Hong Kong-listed developer struggles to reignite investor enthusiasm.

Wan, who was also an Executive Director and Managing Director at the real estate firm made famous for its Xintiandi project in Shanghai, will be staying on at Shui On until October 1st. Wan’s duties as CFO have already been taken over by Executive Director Frankie Wong.

In recent months Shui On has accelerated a string of asset sales that has already forced the company to sell of some of its most valuable buildings in downtown Shanghai in a bid to bail out its debt-laden balance sheet. The developer has been struggling to raise cash for over two years as costs of new projects climb and sales have slowed.

Wan Leaving After Six Years with Shui On

Wan, who joined billionaire Vincent Lo’s Shui On team in March 2009, is said to be leaving “to devote more time to his personal endeavours,” according to a statement from the developer. In addition to his CFO duties, Wan had been in charge of Shui On’s Foshan Lingnan Tiandi project in Guangdong province.

Prior to joining Shui On, Wan had been the General Manager and Group Chief Financial Officer of Hong Kong’s Bank of East Asia.

Wan’s departure comes a just over a year-and-a-half after then Shui On CEO Freddy Lee left the company in January 2014. Lee left to pursue his own personal endeavours after Shui On’s stock lost nearly 40 percent of its value over 12 months, and the developer failed to generate investor interest for a proposed public listing of its China Xintiandi subsidiary.

China’s Biggest String of Real Estate Asset Sales?

This most recent shake up in Shui On’s board room follows soon after the developer sold some of its most valuable core assets.

Late last month Shui On sold its Corporate Avenue phase one for RMB 6.6 billion ($1.063 billion) to Hong Kong’s Link REIT. The sale of the prime commercial complex, which sits next to Xintiandi, came just two months after Shui On Group subsidiary SOCAM sold the Four Seasons Hotel in Pudong to local Chinese developer BM Holdings for RMB2.3 billion ($371 million).

Also in July, SOCAM sold off its stake in a cement joint venture for HK$2.55 billion ($329 million).

Shui On has also said that it is looking for a buyer for phase three of its unfinished Shanghai Corporate Avenue project.

When Vincent Lo announced earlier this year that Shui On was putting its Corporate Avenue projects on the block, the billionaire developer explained that Shui On was “highly geared,” and was only achieving rental yields of between 3 and 4 percent on its commercial properties, while having to pay interest of 7 percent on borrowed funds.

Prior to this year, Shui On had already sold one of the two buildings in phase two of Corporate Avenue to China Life Insurance for RMB 3.32 billion ($545 million), as well as selling projects in Chongqing and Hangzhou.

After the attempted IPO for its China Xintiandi fizzled, Shui On raised $500 million by selling a 21.7 percent stake in that company to Brookfield Property Partners for US$500 million.