Hongkong Land H1 earnings drop 64% to US$1.1b

LOWER net gains from the revaluation of its investment properties eroded results for Hongkong Land in its first half.

Net profit plunged 63.9 per cent to US$1.1 billion from US$3.1 billion the preceding year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Thursday evening.

Net profit attributable to shareholders from its ongoing business performance was US$455 million in the first half, slightly lower than US$470 million in 2017. For the current fiscal period, the group booked net gains of US$661 million on the revaluation of its investment properties, compared with net gains of US$2.6 billion from revaluations in the first half of 2017.

For the six months ended June 30, revenue nearly doubled to US$1.5 billion from the preceding year. The increase in revenue was due to higher rental and service income as well as higher sales of properties, it said.

Earnings per share slipped to 47.90 US cents from US$1.3236 in the previous year. Net asset value per share crept up to US$15.93 as at June 30, from US$15.66 six months ago.

The directors have declared an unchanged interim dividend of six US cents per share, similar to a year ago.

Hongkong Land shares finished one US cent or 0.1 per cent up at S$7.15 on Thursday.