Property and retail conglomerate Wheelock & Co reported a 65.6 per cent slump in first-half profit after writing down the value of its real estate holdings by HK$756.1 million.
The provisions, which reflected a decline in property prices in the six months to September 30, included HK$250 million for its Bellagio project in Sham Tseng and HK$434.5 million taken by subsidiary Realty Development Corp for its land bank.
Wheelock, which also wrote down the value of some investment properties, reported a net profit of HK$158.3 million for the period. Operating profit before property provisions was HK$226.8 million, down from HK$832.9 million for the first half of last year.
The property provisions pushed the company into an operating loss of HK$529.3 million, against a HK$559.1 million profit a year ago.
The company's share of profits of associates, mainly contributed by Wharf (Holdings), amounted to HK$841.3 million, which helped Wheelock's bottom line.
Earnings per share were 7.8 HK cents, compared with 22.7 HK cents a year earlier. An unchanged interim dividend of 2.5 HK cents will be paid.
