Hopson earnings plummet 47.8pc
Hopson Development Holdings said first-half underlying profit slumped 47.82 per cent because of delays in completion of its projects.
Underlying profit, excluding a HK$130 million gain from property revaluation and an acquisition, dropped to HK$168 million for the six months to June from HK$322 million a year earlier.
Including those gains, net profit fell 4.07 per cent to HK$419.26 million from HK$437.06 million, while turnover dived 29.65 per cent to HK$1.42 billion.
The mainland developer blamed the decline in earnings on delayed project completions in Beijing. Some projects such as Tianjin Jingin New City also needed to be revised to meet the government's new requirement, it said.
Hopson was also hit by a 55.89 per cent surge in tax expenses to HK$280 million in the first half.
The company delivered a gross floor area of 173,074 square metres in the first half, down 57.32 per cent from a year ago. As a result, revenue from property sales dropped 32.55 per cent to HK$1.28 billion.
Revenue from property management climbed 28.4 per cent to HK$108 million.
Hopson expects to book property sales of HK$9.96 billion for the second half. Its land bank has a gross floor area of 14.8 million square metres.
The company declared an interim dividend of 9.9 HK cents per share, compared with 10.8 HK cents a year earlier. Hopson shares fell 2.69 per cent to end at HK$27.10 yesterday.
Separately, CC Land Holdings yesterday said its half-year profit jumped to HK$572 million from HK$37 million a year earlier.
Turnover rose 17.5 per cent to HK$459 million, about 96 per cent of it was from manufacturing.
The firm aims to sell a gross floor area of 150,000 square metres this year, of which about 26 per cent has been sold.
