Central's biggest landlord cites strong rental market for underlying profit
Hongkong Land Holdings, the biggest landlord in Central, posted a 22.7 per cent fall in net profit to US$923.4 million for the six months to June 30 caused by a larger revaluation surplus booked a year earlier.
However, the property unit of Jardine Matheson Holdings said underlying profit - earnings booked before property revaluations which reflect the performance of its operations - increased 11.1 per cent to US$117.1 million from US$105.4 million in the first half of last year.
Chief executive Nicholas Sallnow-Smith said the increase reflected the continuing strength of Hong Kong's central office rental market.
'Rents were still rising but at a slower pace than before - it is not surprising,' Mr Sallnow-Smith said, adding that the company was in a good position to see further improvement in rental revision due to limited new supply in Central.
As of June, the vacancy rate in the group's Hong Kong office portfolio was 4.6 per cent while vacancies in its retail portfolio were just 0.2 per cent.
Rental income will improve when its new office building - York House in Central - is completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
