New World boss Adrian Cheng joins chorus asking Hong Kong officials to aid stagnant sector by easing cooling measures

Developer reports 28 per cent drop in profit attributable to shareholders, cuts dividend by 80 per cent to ‘retain cash and strength’, Cheng says

CEO calls for reducing the waiting period for stamp duty refunds for non-residents in Hong Kong under the government’s scheme to attract talent

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A view of Hong Kong’s Kowloon peninsula from the Sky 100 observation deck in International Commerce Centre on June 29, 2022. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:36pm, 29 Sep 2023Updated: 6:42pm, 29 Sep 2023

New World Development CEO Adrian Cheng Chi-kong on Friday joined a chorus of property-sector voices calling on the government to ease cooling measures it imposed on home purchases more than a decade ago, as the company announced a 28 per cent decline in profit attributable to shareholders for the year ended June 30.

Profit attributable to shareholders came in at HK$901 million (US$115 million) compared with HK$1.25 billion a year earlier, while net profit declined 5 per cent to HK$4.08 billion, compared with HK$4.3 billion a year earlier. Revenue generated from property sales increased about 57 per cent year on year, with contracted sales in Hong Kong landing at HK$8.86 billion.

Cheng said the government should shorten the period that non-permanent residents who enter Hong Kong under the government scheme to attract talent have to wait to get a refund of stamp duty they pay when buying a home, currently seven years. Doing so would be “beneficial to Hong Kong’s long-term development”, he said during an online briefing following the results announcement.

Anticipation about an easing of the cooling measures has grown since the government gave its strongest hint yet on Wednesday, when Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said that the conditions that prompted authorities to impose a series of measures starting in 2009 no longer prevailed.

Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, CEO of New World Development, speaks during Hong Kong Fintech Week in Hong Kong on October 31, 2022. Photo: Bloomberg

“I agree that the current property market situation is completely different from the time when these measures were introduced,” said Cheng, who is also New World’s executive vice-chairman.

Cheng said he hopes that the government will ease the curbs in phases, and in response to changes in the market environment, as a relaxation would unleash the public’s purchasing power, boosting economic development and improving the social atmosphere.

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New World boss Adrian Cheng joins chorus asking Hong Kong officials to aid stagnant sector by easing cooling measures

Developer reports 28 per cent drop in profit attributable to shareholders, cuts dividend by 80 per cent to ‘retain cash and strength’, Cheng says CEO calls for reducing the waiting period for stamp duty refunds for non-residents in Hong Kong under the government’s scheme to attract talent

Developer reports 28 per cent drop in profit attributable to shareholders, cuts dividend by 80 per cent to ‘retain cash and strength’, Cheng says

CEO calls for reducing the waiting period for stamp duty refunds for non-residents in Hong Kong under the government’s scheme to attract talent