Sun Hung Kai Properties, the city's biggest developer by market value, has slammed suggestions that the government should resume building Home Ownership Scheme flats, saying a surge in HOS supply made things worse during the Asian crisis.
The developer made the comments as it announced that underlying interim profit rose 44 per cent to HK$6.51 billion for the six months to December.
Taking into account a HK$8.61 billion revaluation gain from investment properties, compared with a revaluation deficit of HK$3.81 billion a year earlier, net profit soared 19.7 times to HK$14.33 billion.
An interim dividend of 85 HK cents, up 6 per cent, was declared.
Property sales rose 19 per cent to HK$2.12 billion and net rental income increased 13 per cent to HK$3.96 billion.
Vice-chairman and managing director Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong called on government to build more public housing and increase land supply to ease the housing shortage. But he drew the line at a resumption of HOS flat building.
'It would be unwise for the government to reallocate part of the land originally set aside for the development of public housing for HOS flats,' he said.