Emperor’s financial struggle mirrors the current state of Hong Kong’s property sector

Group controlled by tycoon Albert Yeung is struggling with debts of HK$16.6 billion, while losses have more than doubled to HK$4.74 billion

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Emperor International owns retail properties on Russell Street. This picture taken in November 2018 shows Italian lingerie maker La Perla occupying one of the company’s shops. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 7:30am, 3 Jul 2025

Hong Kong developer Emperor International Holdings’ struggles reflect the highs and lows the city’s property sector has endured over the past few years.

Just over five years ago, residential and commercial real estate prices and rents were hitting record highs. Developers reported robust earnings and had access to cheap financing, boosting their confidence – and that of investors – to spend more on new projects or acquire existing income-generating properties.

But this golden era ended abruptly. Social unrest in 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic that followed triggered an economic recession, reducing demand for commercial property at a time when new projects were being launched. The downturn also coincided with a sharp rise in Hong Kong’s interest rates, which were raised 11 times between March 2022 and July 2023 to over 5 per cent from 0.5 per cent, before falling slightly last year.

Emperor’s full-year loss of HK$4.74 billion (US$600 million) for the year ended March 2025, more than double the HK$2.04 billion a year earlier, reveals the severity of the crisis facing the sector. The group, controlled by 82-year-old tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing, disclosed that bank borrowings totalling HK$16.6 billion were overdue and some associated loan covenants had been breached.

Albert Yeung, the founder and chairman of Emperor Group, pictured in December 2024. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images

“The broad issues faced by Hong Kong developers in the current environment would be weak property valuation and soft earnings from poor sales,” said Xavier Lee, an equity analyst at Morningstar. Lee did not specifically comment on Emperor’s predicament, but gave a general overview of the challenges developers face in the current environment.

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Emperor’s financial struggle mirrors the current state of Hong Kong’s property sector

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Group controlled by tycoon Albert Yeung is struggling with debts of HK$16.6 billion, while losses have more than doubled to HK$4.74 billion

Group controlled by tycoon Albert Yeung is struggling with debts of HK$16.6 billion, while losses have more than doubled to HK$4.74 billion