Hysan Development, one of the biggest landlords in Hong’s Kong’s famous shopping district of Causeway Bay, is poised to benefit as an influx of shoppers using the new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and high-speed rail link is set to rejuvenate the city’s beleaguered retail market. Market observers have seen a 20 per cent increase in shoppers since the launch of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the new high-speed train service, and are forecasting a gradual recovery in the city’s retail sector. Both transport projects have slashed travel times between Hong Kong and other major cities. “The market will turn larger for sure,” said Hysan’s chairwoman, Irene Lee Yun-lien, as the company released it financial results for 2018. “We need to take advantage to be part of the growing market and woo new shoppers to come to Causeway Bay.” The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the world’s longest sea crossing, has put the three cities within an hour’s commute of each other, and is expected to boost economic development and tourism in Hong Kong. The high-speed rail link, which opened on September 23, has cut journey times between Hong Kong and a host of mainland Chinese cities. “The city’s retail rents have bottomed out, and we will see a single-digit increase in retail rental,” said Cynthia Ng, director of retail services, Colliers International Hong Kong. Gross retail rental, the biggest contributor to the firm’s revenue, dropped 0.1 per cent in 2018 to HK$1.923 billion, compared with a fall of 2.2 per cent the previous year, Hysan revealed on Thursday. The company reported a near 10 per cent revenue increase to HK$3.9 billion from a year earlier, on the back of stronger office turnover. In 2018, Hysan generated HK$1.69 billion from office rental, almost a quarter higher than the previous year, mainly due to the launch of Lee Garden Three. The grade-A office, officially opened in November, is now home to a number of blue chip financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and Maybank. “Our new office tenants in Lee Garden Three … have created a new consumer demographic. This in turn has influenced our retail tenant recruitment strategy and mix,” Lee said in the company’s results statement filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Mainland shoppers splash the cash in Hong Kong in last-minute Christmas splurge, but smaller retailers say business is down as luxury stores draw the crowds The recurring underlying profit for 2018 was HK$2.54 billion, excluding a fair value gain of HK$3.5 billion from its investment properties and one-off “early surrender compensation” income – a fee levied in the event of a contract being cancelled prematurely. In 2017, Hysan’s recurring underlying profit was HK$2.35 billion. Currently, Hysan Development’s portfolio of retail, office and residential investment properties covers a total gross floor area of 4.5 million square feet, which does not include Lee Garden Three. Hysan's shares were down 0.83 per cent by Thursday’s close in Hong Kong, at HK$41.75, against a 0.41 per cent jump in the Hang Seng Index. A second interim dividend of 117 HK cents per share was declared, bringing the annual payout to shareholders to 144 HK cents per share, 5.1 per cent higher than in 2017.