香港地产·精选头条|Chinese Estates Hit by 42% Profit Drop and More News

Joseph Lau’s Chinese Estates took home 42 percent less profit after the company was restructured

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, tycoon Joseph Lau may fly high in his private 787, but his company, Chinese Estates, hit a downdraft last year that pulled profits down 42 percent in 2017. Also in the headlines, saw a 42% fall in profits in 2017. Also in the headlines, Lui Che-woo’s K Wah International sold HK$10 billion flats last year. All these stories and more await you, if you just keep reading.

Chinese Estates Saw 42% Profit Plunge in 2017

Chinese Estates Holdings, the Hong Kong property developer, has reported a 42 percent plunge in full-year net profit for 2017 following a series of asset disposals, after a major share restructuring prompted by former chairman Joseph Lau Luen-hung’s recent failing health.

For the year to December, net profit was HK$3.70 billion ($1.2 billion), down from HK$6.36 billion in 2016, according to a company filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday, two weeks after it issued a profit warning. 

Pair of Floors in Kwun Tong Tower Sold For HK$105M

The 31st and 32nd floors of the Fun Tower at 35 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong were sold for HK$105 million ($13 million), or HK$11,000 ($1,406) per square foot, an increase of HK$25.94 million ($3.3 million) over the price paid in 2014.

The floors have a combined area of 9,610 square feet (893 square metres), and are currently leased to a trading company through the end of 2018. The buyer is said to have purchased the assets for their potential rental returns.

Court Rejects Great Eagle Widow’s Request to Dismiss HSBC as Trustee

The High Court yesterday rejected an application from the widow of the founder of Great Eagle Holdings, Lo To Lee-kwan, to amend a statement of claim to dismiss HSBC as a trustee of her family trust.

But a judgment by the court agreed the case could be tried separately from liability and compensation cases. The trial of the two separate cases will begin on May 29. 

K Wah Sold HK$10B Homes in 2017

K Wah International recorded HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion) in sales in the first-hand home market in 2017, and plans to launch 1,122 units from its Pak Shek Kok project in Tai Po next month.

The latest units range from studios to four-bedroom flats, of which 60 percent are two-bedroom units or smaller, as most homes in the same district are large, so there is a certain demand for smaller units, said general manager Tony Wan Wai-ming. 

Study Questions Rent Exemptions for Elite Clubs in Crowded HK

Twenty-seven private sports clubs holding about 300 hectares (741 acres) of Hong Kong land were exempted by the government from paying almost HK$400 million ($51.1 million) in rent in the past year, a study by a local environmental concern group has found.

Announcing the findings on Wednesday, Green Sense called on authorities to require all private clubs to fully open their facilities to the public, or be charged rent at market rates to eliminate “social injustice”. 

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