Emperor, biggest landlord on Hong Kong’s Russell Street, world’s most expensive shopping avenue, reports US$464.5 million loss

Name: Double punch for Hong Kong’s economy from coronavirus following months of civil unrest
Uploaded: 2020-06-23T23:00:22.000Z
Duration: 4 min 33 s
Description: Double punch for Hong Kong’s economy from coronavirus following months of civil unrest

The loss, Emperor’s first since 2016, can be attributed mainly to a revaluation loss of HK$1.4 billion on investment properties, it says

Company plans to issue a final dividend of HK$0.035 per share, bringing the total to HK$0.07 for the year, down from HK$0.11 last year

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Annual rent on Russell Street dropped to US$2,000 per square foot in the first quarter of this year, a third lower than its highest level recorded in 2013. Photo: Dickson Lee

Pearl Liu

Published: 7:00am, 24 Jun 2020Updated: 7:00am, 24 Jun 2020

Emperor International Holdings, the biggest landlord on Hong Kong’s Russell Street, the world’s most expensive shopping avenue last year, reported a net loss of HK$3.6 billion (US$464.5 million) for the 2019-2020 financial year on Tuesday.

The company, the property arm of Albert Yeung Sau-shing's privately run Emperor Group, reported the loss in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Tuesday.

Emperor said the loss, its first since 2016, could be attributed mainly to a revaluation loss of HK$1.4 billion on investment properties. “Market leasing demand of both retail and office segments remained under pressure, while demand for hospitality services was also adversely affected during the year,” it said in the filing. Its rental income declined 9 per cent to HK$1 billion, while income from hotels dropped 22 per cent to HK$1.2 billion.

Emperor’s most high-profile investments include buildings No. 8, 20, 22 to 24 and 50 to 56 on the 250-metre long Russell Street in Causeway Bay, which has for years been the world’s most expensive shopping street, overshadowing anything Paris or London have to offer.

Annual rent on the street dropped to US$2,000 per square foot in the first quarter of this year, a third lower than its highest level recorded in 2013, when it was first crowned the most expensive shopping strip globally, according to property consultancy Cushman and Wakefield.

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Double punch for Hong Kong’s economy from coronavirus following months of civil unrest

Cushman said rent in most of Hong Kong’s core retail districts might drop by as much as 40 per cent in the six months to end of June. Emperor owns shops at street level in Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui, two of these districts, as well as shopping centres and hotels.