SHKP cuts property sales target as first-half profit falls
As core profit falls in the first half, the developer says it expects home transactions to drop in wake of government measures to cool market
Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's biggest developer by market value, has cut its sales target for this financial year by 8.5 per cent, after reporting its first decline in core earnings since 2009.
The fall in sales for the full year would be unavoidable, said Victor Lui Ting, a deputy managing director of SHKP, because of the measures imposed by the government to rein in property price growth.
It is inevitable to see a fall in property transactions under the new curbs
"It is inevitable to see a fall in property transactions under the new curbs," Lui said, while presenting the group's results for the six months to December.
The results showed a 1.93 per cent fall in underlying profit to HK$11.55 billion from HK$11.77 billion a year earlier.
Following the government measures to cool the property market, SHKP said it lowered its annual sales target to HK$32 billion from HK$35 billion.
Earnings from property sales for the first half dropped 18.7 per cent to HK$6.41 billion, compared with HK$7.88 billion a year earlier.
Turnover dropped 12.8 per cent to HK$31.78 billion, but after taking an increase in the fair value of investment properties of HK$12 billion into account, net profit climbed 6.5 per cent to HK$22.51 billion.