Soho China says project nets 770m yuan in sales
Soho China, the largest commercial developer in Beijing, has generated a better than expected 770 million yuan (HK$874 million) in sales at its commercial project in Zhong Guan Cun district launched earlier this month.
Soho chairman Pan Shiyi said on Monday he expected the company to make 1 billion yuan if the project sold out.
Zhong Guan Cun Soho, scheduled for completion this year, has a total retail and office floor area of 58,850 square metres.
Meanwhile, chief executive Zhang Xin expects Soho China's contract sales this year to exceed last year's 7.7 billion yuan.
'Originally, we thought contract sales would be similar to last year, but after seeing strong property sales this month, we believe they will be better than expectations, although we will not adjust our target at the moment,' Ms Zhang said.
Mr Pan said rents in grade A offices in the core business district in the first quarter were 15 to 20 per cent lower than a year earlier as the company's major tenants were multinational financial institutions, which have been hard hit by the financial crisis.
But the occupancy rate of Soho China's other office buildings was still between 90 and 95 per cent as the major tenants were local small and medium-sized enterprises.
The company has more than 10 billion yuan cash on hand and is looking for land acquisitions.
President Yan Yan said the firm was looking at development sites and distressed buildings in Beijing and Shanghai. Mainland property sales had increased significantly in the past few months, helped by banks' relaxed loan policy and the government's stimulus package, she said.
