Poly, KWG buy more sites despite curbs
Guangzhou-based developers Poly Real Estate Group and KWG Property Holding said separately yesterday they had acquired new sites despite government measures to deter builders from boosting their land banks.
Shanghai-listed Poly said it had bought five sites in three cities for more than 6.1 billion yuan. It was unclear whether some or all of the new plots were included in the list of nine property projects cited on Friday by the company as the reason for its plan to raise as much as 19.4 billion yuan from a share placement.
The five properties, with a combined area of more than 1.2 million square metres, are in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Changchun.
The Shanghai sites, with a combined area of 408,373 sqm, will house residential towers, the 289,666 sqm Hangzhou plot will be a mixed residential and commercial project and the 502,645 sqm Changchun property - in which the company has a 51 per cent stake - will become a residential development.
Meanwhile, KWG, which raised HK$4.55 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering this month, said yesterday it had acquired three sites in Chengdu for 3.6 billion yuan through an auction.
It plans to turn one of the sites into a high-end residential complex and merge the other two into a mixed residential-commercial development. Total gross floor area is 497300 sqm.
The National Development and Reform Commission last week proposed a ban on the pre-sale of unfinished flats, hoping to force out speculators.
After the announcements, Poly shares rose 1.78 per cent to close at 69.16 yuan and KWG's stock closed up 3.2 per cent at HK$9.97.
