PROPERTY developer Hongkong Land : H78 0% sank into the red for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, posting a full-year loss of US$582.3 million, from a US$202.7 million profit the year before.

Its underlying profit slid by 5.4 per cent to US$734.2 million, from US$776.1 million the previous year.

The company, in its financial report released on Thursday (Mar 7), said that profits from its investment properties grew, mainly due to an improved performance by its luxury retail and Singapore office portfolios, offsetting the reduced contributions from its Hong Kong office portfolio.

Loss per share was 26.29 US cents, a turnaround from earnings per share of 8.99 US cents the previous year.

A final dividend of 16 US cents a share has been proposed, which, if approved by its shareholders, would bring the total dividend for the year to 22 US cents a share, unchanged from a year ago. The final dividend will be paid out on May 15.

Revenue fell by 22 per cent to US$1.8 billion in FY2023, down from US$2.2 billion the previous year.

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The group said that its financial position “remains strong”, with a net debt of US$5.4 billion as at Dec 31, down from US$5.8 billion a year ago. Net gearing at the end of the year was 17 per cent, unchanged from the end of 2022.

The group’s chairman, Ben Keswick, said that he expects market conditions in the group’s core markets of Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland to remain challenging in 2024.

He expects the trading performance of the group’s Hong Kong Central portfolio to be lower in 2024 due to negative office rental reversions.

The counter ended at US$3.15, up US$0.06 or 1.9 per cent, on Thursday.