Hysan Place helps drive developer’s underlying profit up 26pc

Underlying profit for last year at Hysan Development, the largest landlord in Causeway Bay, jumped 26 per cent year on year to HK$2.04 billion thanks in part to the contribution from the recently redeveloped Hysan Place in the prime shopping district.

The firm’s net profit, however, plunged 38.1 per cent to HK$6.16 billion owing to a sharp fall in gains from the revaluation of properties. Turnover jumped 23.2 per cent to HK$3.06 billion.

Rental income from the retail sector surged 34.2 per cent, while rental income from the office sector grew at a tamer rate of 19.5 per cent.

“The improving global economy and resilient local private consumption should benefit our balanced retail and office portfolio,” chairman Irene Lee Yun-lien said in the results announcement on Friday. “For 2014, we expect our overall performance to be steady.”

The company declared a final dividend of 95 HK cents a share, compared with 78 HK cents a share in 2012.