Shun Tak boosts first-half core profit 225.6pc on strong property sales

Underlying profit at Shun Tak Holdings, which runs businesses from property to shipping and hotels, surged 225.61 per cent year on year to HK$534 million in the first half of the year, driven mainly by strong property sales.

Net profit, including property revaluation gains, grew 63.99 per cent to HK$1.1 billion from HK$672 million in the first half of 2013, the company said on Friday. Revenue jumped 120.36 per cent to HK$3.73 billion during the period.

Shun Tak declared an interim dividend of 5 HK cents a share. No interim dividend was paid last year.

The contribution of property sales to operating profit was HK$563 million in the first half, compared with just HK$34 million a year earlier. Most of the sales were generated by the Chatham Gate project in Hung Hom and One Central in Macau.

Profit from the transport division jumped 106.25 per cent to HK$99 million.

Its hospitality business benefited from a record-breaking visitor numbers for Macau. The division’s operating profit rose 20 per cent to HK$42 million.

The company generated a gain of HK$216 million from investments.

The sale of the remaining flats at Chatham Gate will be booked in second-half earnings, as will HK$793 million from sales of places at its Taipa Hills Memorial Gardens columbarium in Macau.

Managing director Pansy Ho Chiu-king said in the results announcement that three new property projects in Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau were expected to generate a promising revenue stream for the group over the medium term.