China Overseas Land to accelerate investment in Hong Kong after posting 25pc interim profit gain

State-owned developer China Overseas Land & Investment said it will accelerate investment in Hong Kong to take advantage of opportunities in the Greater Bay Area initiative after it reported first-half profit rose 25 per cent.

The blue-chip developer saw net profit for the first six months expand to HK$21.7 billion driven by higher selling prices and valuation gains during the period.

Revenue was up 3.5 per cent to HK$87.2 billion. Gross margins improved by 3 percentage points to 30.5 per cent.

“Hong Kong is an important part in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bay Area, which is set to be one of the key drivers in China’s economic growth,” Yan Jianguo, chairman and chief executive of China Overseas Land & Investment, told reporters during the results briefing on Monday.

“We want to put more investments in Hong Kong and Macau,” he said.

Including its large scale Kai Tak project now in pre-sales, the developer achieved HK$16 billion in contracted sales in Hong Kong last year and HK$8 billion so far this year. It hopes to receive a sustainable sales contribution from Hong Kong market, Yan said.

In regard to China’s latest restrictions on overseas property investment by domestic firms, Yan stressed that it was different from other mainland developers in that China Overseas is registered and headquartered in Hong Kong.