SOEs told to map property sector exit by Mandy Lo and Beth Ye
State-owned enterprises have been told to submit proposals on how how they plan to exit the property market now that dozens of them have been
ordered not to acquire any more land.Seventy-eight SOEs whose core business is not home development met the regulator of state-owned assets last week and were told to send in their
responses within 15 days, according to a statement posted on the regulator's website yesterday.
The proposal dragged down stocks of mainland developers further as investors worried more tightening measures may ensue.
Hopson Development (0754) said government control on land supply by
suspending land auctions in Beijing will benefit the market. In other parts of the mainland, the highest bidder in a land auction is no longer guaranteed of winning the site. "Developers who make the highest bid no longer have an advantage according to the policy, " said Hopson Development newly appointed chief executive Xue Hu.
"This will not only help ease `irrational investment' but will also be conducive to a healthier market."
Fantasia Holdings (1777) chairman and chief executive Pan Jun said he does not expect immediate improvements in the market.
"I am cautiously optimistic about the new policy. But it may
take years to feel the impact because state-owned firms can stay in the property market until they complete all home projects," Pan said.
He believes the process will
take five to 10 years as the affected SOEs have huge land reserves in city centers.
Mainland property prices are tipped to
grow steadily this year and the government will continue to monitor prices, he said.
Fantasia, meanwhile, said its saleable area may rise 47 percent to 1.13 million square meters this year. As of the end of February, it had a land bank of 10.78 million sq m.
Fantasia's net profit for last year grew 3.4 times to 373 million yuan (HK$424 million) as revenue doubled to 2.46 billion yuan. A final dividend of 1.75 HK cents per share was declared.
Guangdong-based Hopson said its net profit for 2009 surged 195 percent from a year earlier to HK$5.8 billion, thanks to the revaluation of certain investment properties and a decrease in provision for land appreciation tax.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 00323&fc=2
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"