The normally China-shy Sun Hung Kai Properties has created a splash in the media by unveiling plans for an HK$8 billion mega-project in Shanghai.
The market's reaction yesterday was strictly ho-hum, however, with the counter trading underwater for much of the day only to draw some late bargain hunters and finish a paltry 0.49 per cent higher at $51.25.
The muted reaction was understandable, said Jeff Yau, a property analyst at South China Securities.
'It's a long-term project. We shouldn't pay too much attention in the short term,' he said.
The first phase of the 4.5 million sq ft project in the Pudong financial district will not be open until 2007 and it will not be fully completed until 2011.
The retail, office and hotel development is big - more than 2.5 times larger in area terms than SHKP's huge SAR office tower IFC Phase 2. But the company's China portfolio will still only amount to 3.3 per cent of its net asset value, according to Nomura International analyst Gary Chan.
