Soho China to sell Shanghai office building after posting 87 per cent decline in profit
Chairman expresses confidence in Beijing and Shanghai office property markets
Commercial property giant Soho China plans to sell an office building in Shanghai to make quick cash from the city’s red-hot real estate market after posting a 87 per cent decline in net profit last year.
The prime office developer saw its net profit narrow to 1.05 billion yuan (HK$1.25 billion) from 4.08 billion yuan a year earlier, mainly due to a huge reduction in property sales resulting from a business focus shift to property leasing.
Company chairman Pan Shiyi told a press conference on Tuesday Soho China was considering the sale of the 42,000 square metre Soho Century Plaza grade-A office tower in Pudong, Shanghai, this month given the bullish market sentiment and continuously easing policy environment.
“The market is hot, why not catch the opportunity and make money?” he said in Hong Kong. “The price is not set yet, but for sure the return will be much higher than home sales in Shanghai.”
The market is hot, why not catch the opportunity and make money?
Pan added such move would benefit the company’s cash flow and be a trial for it to decide whether to sell more non-core assets.