Hong Kong-listed developer Shui On reports drop in earnings for 2018 and slashes sales target for this year

Hong Kong-listed property developer Shui On Land reported on Wednesday that its core earnings had dropped by 3 per cent to 3.06 billion yuan (US$457.09 million) for the year ending December 31, 2018.

The company, which has the second-largest commercial property portfolio in Shanghai, said its revenue had jumped by 35 per cent to 24.84 billion yuan for the year, and that it would pay a final dividend of 8.4 Hong Kong cents, an increase of 20 per cent year on year.

Vincent Lo Hong-sui, Shui On’s chairman, said the company had slashed its sales target for 2019 by 16.7 per cent to 10 billion yuan after failing to meet a target of 12 billion yuan it had set last year, as well as a 4.6 per cent drop in Shanghai home prices year on year.

But he remained optimistic about the market. Lo said Shui On had cooperated with its investment partners to better utilise its branding and market position, and “to make it more influential” by increasing growth despite a strategy to have fewer capital assets.

When asked about his daughter Stephanie Lo Bo-yue, who was appointed the company’s executive director in August last year and has since been given control of Shui On’s shopping centre business in Shanghai, Lo said: “Her performance is very satisfactory. You know, the new mall is about young women. Even if I want to have a look, I have to ask Stephanie and [the team].”

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Shui On’s share price climbed 3.1 per cent to close at HK$2.02 on Wednesday before the results announcement.