Sun Hung Kai slices margins to push sales, beats target

Hong Kong

SUN HUNG KAI Properties Ltd, Hong Kong's biggest developer by market value, beat its residential sales target for the first half of the year, while sacrificing profit margins as it offered sweeteners to entice buyers.

Alfred Lau, a Hong Kong-based property analyst at Bocom International Holdings Co who has a sell rating on the stock, estimates that the developer's Hong Kong residential margins fell to about 20 per cent in the first half of the year, from an average of 40 per cent. Margins are a measure of profitability, typically show…