Poly (Hong Kong) Investments, the Hong Kong-listed unit of mainland conglomerate China Poly Group Corp, plans to spend HK$1 billion to replenish its land bank this year and has already spent about half that, according to the company. Poly (Hong Kong), which in March brought in Citic Pacific chairman Larry Yung Chi-kin as strategic investor, would focus on property development and investment in Shanghai and Wuhan, managing director Zhang Zhengao said yesterday after a shareholders meeting. 'We have been transforming from a conglomerate into a property firm since two years ago and we'll continue working in this direction,' Mr Zhang said. The company acquired two parcels of land, one in Shanghai and the other in Wuhan in the first quarter, which helped to add 350,000 square metres in land reserves and make 910,000 square metres in gross floor area available for development. Poly (Hong Kong), which last year disposed of interests in insurance, oil and grains trading and ports, was considering what to do with other non-core businesses such as power and heat co-generation plants and optical disc making, but no concrete plan or timetable has been developed so far, Mr Zhang said. The firm had eight property projects under construction at the end of last year, in cities including Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing, Suzhou and Beijing, with total gross floor area of 1.25 million square metres. About 400,000 square metres of total gross floor area would be completed this year, and one-third of the sale revenue from such units could be booked this year, deputy managing director Ye Liwen said. As at the end of March, Poly (Hong Kong) owned 510,000 square metres of land reserves and 1.5 million square metres of gross floor area in total, sufficient for planned development in the coming two to three years, Mr Ye said. The company was in discussions to buy a land parcel in Shanghai that could be developed into 200,000 square metres of gross floor area, Mr Ye said, while also disclosing that the company had used about half this year's proposed HK$1 billion expenditure. Poly (Hong Kong) increased net profit 15 per cent to HK$189 million last year, on turnover of HK$947 million. The shares, which have gained 146.5 per cent since the announcement that Mr Yung bought more than 16 per cent of the company, closed up 2.17 per cent at HK$4.24 yesterday.
