Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, welcome to the Sun Hung Kai FY 2024 Annual Results/A nalyst Briefing, and I would like to thank you, all of you, for coming under the typhoon. As usual, I'll present an overview of the results and the performance of our businesses, followed by a Q&A section with our senior management. Let's start with the group's financial review. Please note that all figures are in Hong Kong dollars, unless stated otherwise. For the year ended June 30th 2024, the group's underlying profit amounted to HKD 21.7 billion, which decreased by 9% year-on-year. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower property development profit from Hong Kong and the Mainland, partly offset by increased profit contribution from property rental and hotel businesses.
Including the net effect of revaluation loss of around HKD 2.4 billion on investment properties, the reported profit was HKD 19 billion, a decrease of 20% year-on-year. The underlying earnings per share was down 9% to HKD 7.50, while reported earnings per share was down 20% to HKD 6.57. As for dividend, the board of directors has recommended a final dividend of HKD 2.80 per share, a decrease of 24% year-on-year. Together with the interim dividend of HKD 0.95, total dividend for the full year will be HKD 3.75 per share. Now, we come to the profit breakdown by segment. The group's property development profit decreased by 31% to around HKD 8 billion, mainly due to lower profit margin in Hong Kong and lower sales volume of residential units on the Mainland.
On rental front, the group's net rental income increased by 3% to around HKD 19 billion, mainly driven by a 1% growth in net rental income in Hong Kong, and there was also an 8% increase in net rental income from the Mainland portfolio. There was a recovery in inbound tourism, which offers support to the group's hotel business. An operating profit of HKD 615 million was recorded from the group's hotel business, significantly increased from HKD 161 million in last financial year. Profit from other businesses also increased by 2% to around HKD 4.9 billion. Altogether, the group's total operating profit for FY 2024 was down 7% to around HKD 32.4 billion. On financial position, as at June 30th 2024, the group's net debt was HKD 111 billion.
The net gearing ratio was 18.3%, down from 21.2% as at the end of December last year. Interest coverage for the past 12 months was around 4.6 times, compared to 6.8 times a year ago, mainly due to high interest expenses. The group will continue with prudent financial management. Ongoing measures of cash flow management, including strict control on construction CapEx and strengthening of our recurring income from property investment portfolio and non-property businesses. We will also strive to achieve fast asset turnover for property development business. We expect to see the net gearing ratio to drop further by end of next financial year, with over HKD 28 billion to be received by June next year.
To diversify funding sources and achieve a better alignment of the group's RMB-denominated assets and liabilities, the group has been ramping up the use of RMB-denominated borrowings. As of the end of June 2024, about 46% of the group's total borrowing were either fixed rate debt or RMB floating rate debts. The group's debt maturity profile were also well staggered. The group is one of the best-rated developers in Hong Kong, holding an A+ rating with stable outlook from S&P and A1 rating with negative outlook from Moody's. The group maintains a sizable recurring income base from its rental portfolio and non-property businesses. For this financial year, this recurring income base was just 1.6% below the peak level in FY 2019. Now, we come to the performance of different business segments.
As of June, end of June 2024, the group's total landbank in Hong Kong was about 58 million sq ft of attributable GFA, comprising 38 million sq ft of completed properties and around 19.6 million sq ft of properties under development. Among the completed properties, retail portfolio accounted for 33%, while offices accounted for 29% of the total. For property under development, about 13 million sq ft were residential property under development for sales. These developments are expected to be completed in phases over the next six to seven years. During the financial year, the group added three residential sites, with total GFA of about 1.5 million sq ft through lease modification. We also add two sites, totaling 465,000 sq ft of GFA after the end of financial years.
The group will continue to adhere to its prudent financial discipline, including a selective approach in land banking replenishment. Regarding land resumption, the group's land plots in Kwu Tung North, Fanling North NDA, were resumed by the Hong Kong government, with cash compensations of about HKD 1.9 billion already recognized in this financial year. Another batch of land plots in Hung Shui Kiu, Sha Tin, NDA, will be re-resumed, and the compensation of around HKD 2.7 billion will be recognized in the next financial year. Let's move on to the property development business in Hong Kong. For the financial year, the group recognized that property sale in Hong Kong increased at 3.7% year-on-year to HKD 24.8 billion. Mainly derived at, from Novo Land, University Hill, Silicon Hill, and Grand YOHO.
Development profit decreased by 23% to over HKD 6.5 billion, mainly due to lower development margin. During this financial year, about 2.5 million sq ft of residential gross floor area was completed. Contracted sales not yet recognized amounted to around HKD 25 billion, of which around HKD 19.6 billion is expected to be recognized in the next financial year. Hong Kong residential market became active following the withdrawal of cooling measure in February this year, but has softened in recent months as interest rate remains high. During the financial year, we achieved around HKD 25.6 billion of contracted sales in Hong Kong, of which 35% or HKD 8.9 billion were from the sale of completed stocks, including Dynasty Court.
This map shows our new project to be launched in the next nine months, which include a diverse mix of residential projects across Hong Kong to appeal to different home buyers. There are mass market projects such as Sai Sha near Ma On Shan, YOHO West, and the YOHO Hub in Yuen Long. As for luxury project, in addition to the recently tendered Victoria Harbour II in North Point, we will also launch Cullinan Sky in Kai Tak. Furthermore, we will continue to put up for sale the unsold completed residential units and some non-core properties. We will be looking at our Hong Kong rental portfolio. During the financial year, the group's rental portfolio in Hong Kong continued to achieve modest increase in gross rental income of 1.2% year-on-year to about HK$18 billion. Overall, average occupancy remains stable at around 92%.
Higher gross rental income from retail and service apartment portfolios offset the decrease in office rental income. The group's retail rental income accounted for about 52% of total gross rental income in Hong Kong. We have adopted a proactive approach to strengthen the competitive edge of our malls, that include ongoing asset and service enhancement and refining trade and tenant mix to enhance shoppers' experience. These efforts help the group to achieve stable occupancy of around 94%. Our major malls enjoy strong connectivity. They are located along the railway lines and are linked to the surroundings by covered footbridges. Not only do we partner with business units and tenants in launching promotions, we also collaborated with market players from different sectors. A number of our malls have introduced pet and family facilities by refurbishing their outdoor areas.
For example, part of the open space in the New Town Plaza will be reconfigured into a Chill Park. The Point, our integrated loyalty program, helps our malls drive footfall and enhance shopper experience. The program has also leveraged the group's extensive retail network and hotel footprint to strengthen membership recruitment. The Point will launch a new function soon, allowing special member to pre-book the EV charging service. The new instant point earn function has been extended to about 60% of tenants in the group's major mall. The Point also collaborates with the Go Royal, the hotel's loyalty program, to drive synergy. Moving on to the office rental performance. Despite the challenging market, the group's quality office portfolio achieved an average occupancy of about 91%. Our portfolio benefit from the flight to quality trend. We differentiate our portfolio by premium building quality and professional management services.
In particular, we adhere to high green building standards that meets the ESG goal of our tenants. We will continue to upgrade our major existing buildings. In the near term, some properties have already opened recently and strengthened our recurrent income base. Yoho Mix and Yoho Plus in Yuen Long opened in June this year. These new malls introduce popular brands and restaurants new to Hong Kong, and pet and family-friendly spaces. They are linked to our flagship, Yoho Mall, by footbridges, creating the largest retail cluster in the northwest New Territories. In the near to medium term, the group's recurrent income base will be further expanded as major new investment property come on stream. They will include The Millennity in Kwun Tong, high-speed rail terminus development, and Artist Square Towers project in West Kowloon, and a commercial project in Mong Kok.
A highlight in the pipeline will be the high-speed rail West Kowloon terminus development, whose office portion has been named the International Gateway Centre, IGC. IGC comprises two sets of twin block Grade A office towers and has attained the highest sustainability ratings. An entire block has been taken up by UBS as its regional headquarters. The group also exchanged the green lease with UBS to demonstrate our commitment in sustainability. The project will be ready for handover from early 2026, and is expected to create synergy with our other properties in West Kowloon, including the Artist Square Towers project under construction and ICC cluster. Now, let's move on to our property business on the Mainland.
As of the end of June 2024, the group's total land bank on the Mainland was about 67 million sq ft of GFA on attributable basis, comprising about 21 million sq ft of completed properties and 46 million sq ft of properties under development. Among the completed properties, 43% of them were shopping centers, and 38% of them were premium office. Now, let's focus on our property development business on the Mainland. During the financial year, the group's recognized property sales on the Mainland decreased by 49% year-on-year to about RMB 2.7 billion, mainly due to lower sales volume. Development profit was also lower, at about RMB 1.3 billion, with satisfactory development margin. As at the end of June 2024, the unrecognized contracted sales amounted to RMB 12.6 billion.
About RMB 8 billion will be recognized in the next financial year. In FY 2024, the group achieved the contracted sales of over RMB 11 billion on the Mainland, mainly from the sale of residential units at Shanghai Arch and Hangzhou IFC. In the next nine months, four projects with a total attributable GFA of about 930,000 sq ft will be launched. You may refer to the table here for details. Now, let's take a look at our Mainland rental portfolio. During the financial year, the group's gross rental income from Mainland rental portfolio increased by almost 8% year-on-year to about RMB 6.3 billion, or up 11.6% in RMB terms. The major driver was a retail portfolio, whose rental income increased by over 16% year-on-year in RMB terms.
Also, incremental contribution from Nanjing IFC Mall and Shanghai Three ITC Tower A also contributed to the increase in gross rental income. The group's major mall on the Mainland continued to maintain high occupancy with positive rental reversion. The portfolio rise above the competition with synergy within our large-scale integrated project and proactive management approach. Shanghai IFC Mall is a must-visit luxury destination and maintain high occupancy. As for the office market, although the environment remains challenging, the group's Grade A offices at Shanghai IFC, Shanghai ICC, and the first two phases of ITC achieved a satisfactory occupancy. Three ITC Tower A is ramping up with 70% committed occupancy. We have extended our success from Shanghai to Nanjing recently. The 1 million sq ft Nanjing IFC Mall hosts its grand opening in July this year and achieved high occupancy already.
It houses duplex luxury flagships and new concept stores, together with popular restaurants. Three ITC in Shanghai is a highlight in the pipeline, which will further expand the group's rental portfolio on the Mainland upon full completions. Tower A office was completed in FY 2023, while several other parts are under construction and are scheduled for completion from 2025 onwards. They include the Tower B, the 370-meter-tall office skyscraper, the flagship mall, ITC Maison, the hotel Andaz Shanghai ITC. Both Tower A and Tower B meet world-class green specifications under the LEED and WELL certification program. Moving on to our hotel business. The group's hotels in Hong Kong achieved a notable recovery, although the return of inbound tourists has been slower than expected. Room rate and occupancy continued to improve.
On the Mainland, Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong achieved a record high in both average room rates and RevPAR. As for new hotel, Four Seasons Hotel Suzhou opened in December last year. As a result, operating profit of the hotel segment reached HKD 650 million, up significantly from HKD 161 million the same period last year. Let's turn to our ESG initiative. The group will, starting from this financial year, disclose its Scope 3 emissions for better transparency. We are committed to obtain LEED Gold or Platinum rating for our new major commercial properties. As mentioned in the previous slide, we have exchanged a green lease with an anchor tenant of the IGC. The group is committed to using renewable energy. We installed a super, super fast EV charger in our malls, and purchased electric construction equipment to reduce emissions.
In collaboration with a bank, our construction arm, Sanfield, launched Hong Kong's first ESG-linked supplier payment scheme this year, which allows suppliers and subcontractors meeting sustainability targets to enjoy early payments for goods and services. The group uses its resources to make Hong Kong a better place to live and work in. All of the initiative will lend a site in Yuen Long to the government for the construction of one of the city's first light public housing estate. It will start taking in residents around first quarter 2025. During the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, we utilized our extensive shopping mall network to promote the Olympic spirit in Hong Kong. We also continue to promote reading and support a wide range of sports for charity initiatives. For more information about our latest ESG performance, please refer to the appendix of this PowerPoint or our website.
Now I will discuss the market and business prospects. In Hong Kong, the economy is expected to register modest growth in the near term, despite a challenging external environment. Potential interest rate cut should further benefit the housing market, while rising home rents supported by solid housing demand. Relentless efforts by the government to foster a mega event economy and the recovery of passenger flight capacity will support the revival of inbound tourism. On the mainland, policies in cultivating new quality, productive forces, advancing high standard opening up, and unleashing domestic demand will render further support to the structural transformation and steady economic growth. Supportive measures should help steer the property sector towards a more sustainable path over the medium term.
As for our business prospect, the groups attach importance to cash flow management and will continue to adhere to prudent financial discipline, where we strictly control capital expenditure. The overall construction CapEx is expected to decrease meaningfully in the next few financial years. We will continue to strengthening recurrent income from property investment portfolio and non-property businesses, and working on enhancing the competitiveness of our portfolio. We aim to achieve high asset turnover for our property development business, including the disposal of non-core properties. With new major projects in Hong Kong and on the mainland coming on stream, we aim to achieve long-term growth in our recurrent income. For the property investment portfolio, one of our key strategies is to strengthen its competitiveness to enhance service quality, in addition to leveraging the strength of its sizable quality portfolio in prime location.
Over the next few years, several of the group's new developments are coming on stream, creating new sources of recurring revenue. The shopping mall underneath The Millennity and the high-speed rail West Kowloon Terminus development in Hong Kong, as well as Three ITC in Shanghai, will help contribute to the group's recurring income upon their gradual completion. For property development business, the group will continue to capitalize on its strong reputation for delivering high-quality properties to achieve high asset turnover. We will continue to launch new residential project for sale when ready, and put up for sale unsold completed residential units and some non-core properties. Finally, I would like to conclude my presentation with the following message extracted from the chairman's statement: "Over the past half century, the group has been shaping Hong Kong's cityscape with iconic landmark developments, which have built its history and long-running reputation for quality.
The group's customer-centric culture has earned trust and long-term relationship with tenants and customers. Adhere to prudent financial discipline, the group have achieved sound performance and resilience in weathering various economic downturns. Moving forward, the group will uphold its unwavering commitment to quality, flexibility in moving with the times, and prudent financial discipline. Supported by a solid foundation, including time-tested business strategies and strong execution teams, the group strongly believe it will rise above challenges and achieve long-term growth by continuing to build quality properties to meet public aspiration for a healthy and environmentally friendly community. This is the end of my presentation. Thank you.
Thank you, Miriam. Let me first introduce the panel members. Starting from your left, Mr. Allen Fung, Executive Director. Mr. Christopher Kwok, Executive Director. Mr. Victor Lui, Deputy Managing Director. Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Raymond Kwok. Mr. Mike Wong, Deputy Managing Director. Mr. Adam Kwok, Executive Director. Eric Tong, Executive Director, and Mr. Frederick Li, Group Chief Accountant. May I now invite Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Raymond Kwok, to share with us the highlights of today's results announcement. Mr. Kwok, please.
... Yeah, thank you for attending today's session. We'll try to end the session before the typhoon number eight. Yeah, the signal is hoisted, okay? Thank you for attending in spite of the weather. During the year under review, the group continued to deliver resilient performance despite the challenging external economic and operating environment. Such performance was supported by the group's prudent financial discipline, extensive experience gained over the years, and strong execution ability of its management team. The group's premium properties and services, as well as its reputable brand, also serves as a backbone of our performance. The group continued to launch new projects for sale when ready. During the year, the group's contracted sales in Hong Kong and on the mainland amounted to about HKD 37.5 billion.
New launches in Hong Kong included YOHO West Phase 1, the YOHO Hub II in Yuen Long, and Cullinan Harbour Phase 1 in Kai Tak, as well as Dynasty Court in Mid-Levels and other completed projects. All of these projects received positive market responses. On the Mainland, projects offered for sale include Phase 3 of Shanghai Arch and the third batch of residences at the river east part of Hangzhou IFC. The sales response for both projects was very encouraging. For a quick update, after the financial year, the group launched Victoria Harbour II in North Point for sale by tender just last week. Several projects in Hong Kong will be put on the market over the next 10 months.
They include, for example, the first phase of Cullinan Sky in Kai Tak, a new block at the YOHO Hub II in Yuen Long, a joint venture project on Prince Edward Road West in Ho Man Tin, the 2nd phase of YOHO West, and the 1st phase of the Sai Sha project near Ma On Shan. On the mainland, the group plans to launch new batches of its joint venture developments. This include a new phase of the Villas project, Lake Genève, in Suzhou, and new batches at Hangzhou IFC and Oriental Bund in Foshan. For the group's property investment portfolio, its overall occupancy was satisfactory, thanks to continuous efforts to make the portfolio more competitive. In addition to having premium building quality and professional property management services, the group's office buildings are designed with high green building standards that align with tenants' ESG goals.
They continue to attract multinationals and domestic corporations. The group's mega project atop the high-speed rail West Kowloon Terminus is set to become one of the most sustainable and eco-friendly buildings in the world. Its office portion, called the International Gateway Center, the IGC, has secured global financial institution, UBS, as a tenant for an entire block to house its regional headquarters. This landmark project, plus other new developments coming on stream, will bring additional rental income and steady cash flow to the group starting from the next one to two years. To cope with the challenging operating environment, the group continues to enhance the competitive edge of its malls. Apart from upgrading its properties and services, we regularly refine the tenant mix of our malls and have added more pet and family-friendly facilities in outdoor areas.
The loyalty program of our malls, i.e., The Point, continues to expand its customer base and launch new initiatives to bring greater convenience to customers. Over the next few months, the group plans to double the number of EV superchargers at its malls, and the pre-booking service will be launched soon for our select Point members who want to use our EV superchargers. On the mainland, the group has replicated the success of Shanghai IFC Mall in Nanjing, with the recent opening of Nanjing IFC Mall. As a third iteration of our signature IFC brand, Nanjing IFC Mall houses an array of prestigious, high-end brands. Some are Asia and global flagship stores. It is quickly becoming a popular destination and a new landmark in Nanjing.
Separately, the remaining portions at Three ITC in Shanghai, including Tower B, Office Tower, a Mega Mall, ITC Maison, and Andaz Shanghai ITC Hotel, are scheduled for completion from 2025 onwards. These additions are expected to contribute to the group's sizable recurring income base when they are completed. The group has exercised prudent financial discipline in land bank, in land bank replenishment. During the year, the group added three residential sites to our land bank in Hong Kong through lease modifications, with a total GFA of about 1.5 million sq ft. Moreover, the group is expected to receive cash compensation of about HKD 1.9 billion for the government's resumption of our land lots in Kwu Tung North and Fanling North New Development Area.
Another patch of land lots in Hong Kong, Hung Shui Kiu, Ha Tsuen New Development Area, has also been resumed, with compensation of about HKD 2.7 billion. In addition, the group is applying for a land exchange for other lots in the Hung Shui Kiu area. In keeping with our belief in building homes with heart, the group is dedicated to developing a harmonious and sustainable community for all. The large-scale project in Sai Sha will not only provide premium residence, but also a sports and commercial complex, covering a site area of 1.3 million sq ft, called GO PARK Sai Sha. Infrastructure in the surrounding area has been upgraded to benefit all residents who live nearby. By blending green lifestyle with nature, the project is set to become a most enjoyable and dynamic community.
The resolution adopted at the third plenary session of the twentieth CPC Central Committee affirmed that Hong Kong should leverage the strengths of one country, two systems, to enhance its status as an international financial, shipping, and trade center. It also supported Hong Kong's drive to build itself into an international hub for high-caliber talent. Such efforts, along with the government's initiatives to attract businesses, investment, and talent, are expected to strengthen Hong Kong's competitive edge. Furthermore, a potential interest rate cut should benefit the housing market. The group will uphold its prudent financial discipline and maintain substantial recurring income from its rental portfolio and non-property businesses. It will leverage its strong brand. It will focus on high asset turnover in its property development business, while staying responsive to market conditions. Without compromising on quality, the group will continue to strictly control the overall construction CapEx.
Riding on its time-tested strategies and a strong execution team, the group has built a strong foundation over the years. Going forward, the group will continue to develop quality properties that help to build a healthy, eco-friendly community for the public. The group will also strive to achieve sustainable growth. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Kwok. We now open the floor for questions. Before posing your questions, could you tell us your name and the company you represent? May I have the first question, please? The gentleman in the first row, please.
Yeah, thank you, management. This is Mark Leung from UBS. So I got about four questions. I think the first question is regarding on the market outlook. So if the rate cut is around the corner, so what's our residential market outlook in terms of both prices and volume? This, and what is our sales targets for Hong Kong and China for next fiscal year? I think that's the first questions. And the second question is regarding on the margin side. So the booking margin for this fiscal year is about 26%. But I think in the results announcement, we continue to highlight asset turnover, cash flow management. So going forward, how should we prioritize the margin and volume for the new project launches? I think that's the second question.
And the third question is, we also mentioned we are going to be CapEx discipline, control the construction CapEx. But at the same time, we do see, we do acquire several land site, free farmland, conversion, and two residential land site, acquisition. So what's our thought, on that one? And lastly, is on the Singapore, investment properties. Just want to check with management, why don't we exercise the option to buy the Singapore ION Orchard, mall? Thank you very much.
Yes, on the first two questions, on the residential market, the relaxation of cooling measures on stamp duties have stimulated our primary market earlier this year. Although momentum a bit is a bit slowing down in recent months, I think this is quite normal after a strong rebound on volume. We all know that both the employment and immigration policies of the government are very well received, backed by the influx of talents and students. The residential leasing market have been very active over the months, and actually we can see from the government rental index that the rents are rising quite rapidly, and the upward trend continues. I think for some of...
Most of the ten talents, they will consider buying a property and becoming homeowners after two to three years of adaptation to our society.
Even in the local market, as the rents are rising and we are expecting that interest rate, there may be an interest rate reduction later this year, that will also induce a lot of renters consider to become home buyers, too. So, for the next 12 months, I think, the market will be very active with an increase in transaction volume. But since we are still in the course of economic recovery, I think the prices may just rise modestly in the range of 5%-10%.
For the next nine to 10 months, we shall have a number of projects to be launched, namely, Victoria Harbour Phase 2, which we are doing now, and also followed by the second block of YOHO Hub II, together with our JV venture in Prince Edward Road West, and also our Cullinan Sky project, connected with the Kai Tak MTR station. At the end of the year, that will be phase 2 of YOHO West, and not forgetting our mega project, Sai Sha. The phase 1A will be marketed in early next year. We have achieved a total sales of over HKD 25 billion, which is exceeding our target in last year, and we are very confident that we can conclude a similar and better sales in this financial year.
On margin positioning, over the years, I think you agree that we can always strike a balance between volume and margin. For the mass project, we are usually aiming for a quicker asset turnover, like the YOHO West project, which we have sold over 1,050 units within 20 days in the beginning of this year. Recently, even the units of Novo Land are doing well. You know our cost of these two projects, and I think we can have a good and reasonable margin in future.
Even for a luxury project like Victoria Harbour Phase 2, which we are selling through a number of tenders, actually, we have closed a few transactions with an average price range of 30-40 thousand dollars per sq ft, which can also deliver good profit for us. In the last quarter, I think you are aware that we have sold a number of units in Dynasty Court, and this is a long-held core investment properties. We have a very low historical cost, and these units were going to deliver a handsome profit for us. Thank you.
I think on the question about, the CapEx discipline, right? I think, we are buying land that, we're confident of, selling the end units, right? And also, we are buying land, that, with, with... we predict the profit margin will be very reasonable, yeah. And, for in the primary market, the property prices have fallen to, 2017 level. I think, if government, is prepared to, offer a more reasonable premium, I think, this could be a good time to accept, provided that, we are confident of selling the end units, yeah. And regarding your question about, CapEx, right? I think, we would be developing properties, for example, we were developing investment properties that we feel confident of, yeah.
If we are not confident of the collectibility, we're going to slow down on the investment CapEx, but anyway, I think buying land we feel at the right time when we are confident about the end sales, I think it's a good time, yeah, and government has realized that they should be more flexible now, yeah. On the Singapore ION Orchard, I think it's we have a very good working relationship with CapitaLand, and I think CapitaLand is transferring the 50% to their fellow listed subsidiary, and I think we work well with them, and then I think we need a strong local partner to operate in Singapore, given that our company is not based in Singapore.
We have CapitaLand and us have both agreed that we should continue to invest and make sure that the mall would be the best mall, best luxury mall in Singapore, yeah. So we work well together with CapitaLand, and we are confident of the future of the mall, yeah. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Kwok. So can I have the second question? So the gentleman in the front row, please. Thank you.
Thank you. Griffin Chan from Citi. So I have five questions. The first one will be on dividend and capital, allocation. So will there be any change in your dividend policy in twenty twenty-five? And will you consider to, for more active capital recycling from the long-code asset disposal? And what is the capital allocation strategies, between deleveraging, share buyback, as well as on, the land banking? So this is the first one. The second one will be on gearing. So are you comfortable with the current gearing level and debt level? So what is the optimum level on the RMB denominated debt, as a percentage of the total debt? And will you consider w- be adding more,
... onshore financing in China. So this is second one. The third one will be on the land banking strategies in Hong Kong, land banking strategies in Hong Kong. So what is the group land banking strategies in Hong Kong, given the land costs, home price is falling as well as the sales is weak? And what is the expected margin and the minimum return, for the new land banking in Hong Kong? And the next one, the fourth one, will be on the China land banking. So what is the land banking plan for China? Will you consider to bottom fish some of the commercial properties in Hong Kong or in China, or even will you consider to buy out any project stake from your partner, from the project in China? And the last one will be on industrial building conversion.
Will you be consider developing or converting more of the industrial building into data center? For example, say, for SUNeVision, especially for those in the Nothern Metropolis. Thank you.
On the last question, can Alan, can you respond to that?
Yes, yes.
Yeah.
I'll take the last question first. I mean, SUNeVision, we have a very robust pipeline in Tseung Kwan O. It's a multi-phase project. Our phase 1 just opened, and we still have a lot of... and we like that location very, very much because it is very high electricity, very dense in fiber, so we're going to invest quite heavily in that. Obviously, we'll continue to evaluate other opportunities. I think there's a misconception in the market that there is not enough space for data centers. Actually, there is actually a lot of buildings, a lot of space, which can be turned into data centers, just that they might not be great data centers. So we're continuing evaluating that, and...
But I think we will particularly focus on our Tseung Kwan O asset, because this is a very, very good site and has very dense electricity and has all the infrastructure that can support the development of AI and data centers in the future.
Yeah, and also for Tseung Kwan O, I think we've incurred the land cost, but there are still a lot of... We still have phase 2 to build, right?
Phase 2 and phase 3.
Yeah. So we have enough land bank for the foreseeable future. By the way, on the total supply of land for data centers, there are plenty, really plenty in Kwai Chung and Tseung Kwan O, right?
Totally. Totally.
Yeah.
There's actually quite a-
Yeah
- oversupply.
But anyway, I think for SUNeVision, we also need to control our leverage a bit, right? So I think we've incurred a lot of the CapEx for the land and construction, right?
Yeah.
We would want to make sure that the capital is the productivity of the capital.
Exactly
is high. Yeah, yeah.
Yes.
Adam, can you answer on the China land banking?
Yeah. Thank you. On the China land bank, I think, three things. Number one is, as our chairman was saying, we have to be very agile, and we have to only build if the market has demand. And so even though we have, for example, 45 million sq ft under development, we'll of course, only build it if there's demand, and if not, we'll phase it out. That's part of our strategy to control CapEx and also being agile to adapt to market demands. And number two is that, you know, even with the core portfolio we're building and with the completion schedule we give you, our IP is going to grow from 19 million right now to 30 million in the next three years. That includes, Shanghai ITC Phase 3, Hangzhou IFC, Suzhou, Guangzhou, etc. .
I think the point is, we're very focused on execution, because our IP alone is going to grow 50%, and it's not an easy market to lease it out and sell out. I think finally, the third strategy and third point is on sales. On property development sales, we are very focused on monetizing an asset turnover sales. You will see we've achieved HKD 11 billion from fiscal year in China, from this past fiscal year, mostly from Shanghai Arch and also some from Hangzhou IFC. You'll see that we also have ample sales resource from existing stock and also coming new launches in the coming year, that we are focused on asset turning over and selling it.
So I think the summary of all that is, you know, we'll build it out by phases according to market demand. We will also, you know, raise the focus on just executing on our investment portfolio growth and also our residential sales. And on, partners and buying the stake, of course, we're open to it if the price is right and the partner is willing, right? And especially if we run it, too. So you know, you should talk to our partners and convince them.
Yeah, uh-
Okay, let me pick up the land bank strategy in Hong Kong. I think probably as our chairman stated, mentioned early on, we are sticking to our very prudent and strict financial discipline when considering to acquire land, new plots of land. Probably, our chairman has just mentioned, three plots of land have been bought during the financial year. But after the financial year, we have bought two more pieces of land, one through public tender and one through conversion of our land. Go back to the three early on projects are all conversion from industrial to residential land, that we consider the location, the locality, will have synergy to our project, clustering to Yoho Town for the first project in Yuen Long.
Sha Tin is a very unique area where the demand is strong, location is good, very close to the Tai Wai station, and the supply is not oversupply. The first three lots and the following two plots of land, Sha Tin again, the Sha Tin one is very. It's a, it's not a big one, but it's a very unique plot of land.
Mm-hmm
... next to the City One MTR station. So we are confident we can build a very decent project to acquire a decent margin in due course. And the other one, the small one, is in Fanling NDA, which is pretty a long-term project, but we are confident with a very low conversion price, which is less than HKD 2,000 per sq ft.
Mm-hmm.
We're confident we can, in due course, develop a-
Mm.
good project in that new area, development area, and can fetch a decent margin, but by the same token, we are adopting the same principle.
Mm-hmm.
To acquire or probably through conversion of land, to residential land in selective, very selective area, at the very good price. We consider very good price. We'll buy at the right time. This is our strategy.
Yeah. I think to add to what Mike has said, right? I think a lot of our senior team members have gone through the 1998 to 2003 cycle. Yeah. So we feel we have the judgment to decide when and where to buy, yeah. And I think in that case, I think the Hong Kong population will increase over time, and there will be also need for private housing. On the dividend policy, I think our dividend policy is to pay 40%-50% of the underlying profits. So that has been our policy.
Last year, the payout was 60%, because I think, earlier on, you know, before 2023, we indicated to the market that the actual dividend per share would stay. But I think, now we will go back to the prudent principle of paying 40%-50% underlying profit. I think we need to make sure that the company gearing will not go out of our comfort level. In terms of use of cash, I think, of course, we'll be paying dividend. We will not consider buying back shares.
I think we believe that in this current market, we need to be very agile and flexible, and therefore, we will try to keep a low gearing ratio, so that we maintain the flexibility to buy in the market when the market is further depressed. At the same time, as Victor said, we're selling more non-core properties that are yielding a low return, so that we can recycle the capital, yeah. On the RMB loan, I think we have a lot of RMB assets, so the RMB loan is mainly, we're just trying to borrow enough to borrow to cover our investment exposure in RMB, because I think it's more prudent to match the asset and the liability. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.
And also, of course, interest rate in China is lower. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.
Thank you. So could I have the third question? So the gentleman in the second row, please.
Thank you, management. This is Karl Chan from JP Morgan. I have four questions on the commercial side. The first two questions about retail. So for the first question, it's so recently the duty-free limit for the mainland Chinese tourists has been lifted. How do you see the impact on our group's tenant sales performance? And do you expect there may be any other policy to further support the tourism sector in Hong Kong? So that's my first question. And then for my second question is in Hong Kong how have the retail sales been like, among our malls? Because most recently, we saw from the Hong Kong overall number is trending negative. So just curious to see how our tenant sales are doing.
If possible, do you have, like, the same store tenant sales figure in the past half year? And then in terms of our rental reversion, how are we seeing so far? And then for next year, do you have any outlook on the rental reversion? And, given the fact that, you know, retail sales are still mostly quite soft, do you see any risk of a negative rental reversion for next year? And, because right now, we are also talking a lot about, you know, other consumption leakage to Shenzhen, also some changes in the consumption behavior. How do you see what is our strategy to cope with these challenges? So this would be my two questions on the retail side.
And then on the office side, I'm just curious to know about the rental reversion in the past year. What's your outlook for next year? And then, what kind of strategy we are doing in order to maintain a high occupancy in the Hong Kong office market? And then my last question, it's very simple, two numbers. One is, how is the occupancy trend in Hong Kong IFC? And the second is, for the IGC, International Gateway Centre in West Kowloon, can you give us some color on the pre-leasing status? So that's my four questions. Thank you.
Sure. I think I'll answer the two questions on the retail market. I think, so the duty-free limit on mainland Chinese tourists was lifted just on July 1st. And so I think the full impact has yet to be seen. But I think during the summer, we have noticed that there's an uptrend of mainland tourists visiting our shopping malls. The public statistics reflect this, and so does our loyalty program, 'cause we see an increasing contribution from mainland tourists who are joining our loyalty program. So among our malls, I think some of the malls that are located in more tourist-favorite districts, like the IFC, Mong Kok, they have registered growth in tenant sales.
But also for our regional malls, I think the sales have remained resilient. And I think going forward, I think the government is trying very hard to bring more events and to promote the tourism everywhere in Hong Kong. And I think that's. We fully welcome that, and we are
... we try to find different ways to work with them, so that these events can also be spread and promoted among our malls. So for example, I think early in this summer, we hosted a number of promotional activities in our malls that revolved around the Paris Olympic Games. And it's actually been able to bring more traffic to our malls during after dinner hours, because that was one of the biggest pain points for the post-COVID recovery for Hong Kong. So we'll continue to do more events at our shopping malls as well.
In terms of the sales and rental reversion numbers, so for this recent financial year, I think our retail sales overall has been resilient, compared to the previous years. Of course, I think there's definitely a change in the spending pattern among locals and tourists, but so far our occupancy cost is healthy, and then we also see, in terms of rental income, we also see a moderate increase as well. In terms of the outbound shopping, I think it's a natural occurrence, given the borders have opened, and for us I think we just have to be proactive in managing our retail portfolio.
As the chairman has said just now, we'll continue to bring in more new entertainment and dining options to our malls, to introduce more pet and family-friendly facilities, and make better use of outdoor areas, as well. We'll continue to carry out asset enhancement works. Most recent focus being on increasing the EV charging network, because we feel that that has been able to bring us more car owners to our shopping malls, and usually they spend more compared to non-car owners. Also we continue to invest in our loyalty program.
So, in the coming six months, we will launch a new instant earn service, so members can earn points immediately after purchase without having to spend extra effort to upload receipts. Hopefully, that will encourage more spending in our malls, and we hope that for customers, even if they are shopping for the same brand, they will choose our malls over our competitors. That would be our target. Thank you.
On the office leasing market, recently, we have seen an increase on inquiries and inspection in CBD area as the flight to quality continue to prevail, and the decentralization trend also induce a lot of office users seeking the opportunity to upgrade the offices in terms of location and building facilities, taking the advantage of a more attractive rental compared with two years ago. So our two buildings, both one and two IFC, are benefited, as it is still the most sought-after location for world's financial institutions. Both buildings are now 95% occupied. And for ICC, it is also benefited by the West Kowloon Cultural Area and also the high-speed rail. It is over 90% occupied.
We have been very successful to retain our tenants in last financial year for our flagship development, one and two IFC, and also ICC. We have already renewed over 70% of tenancy to be expired in the next 12 months. Whereas for other buildings, like those building in Kwun Tong and Wan Chai Causeway Bay, as most of the tenants are belonging to multi-sectors, they tend to renew their leases when it is closer to the expiry. But having said that, we have retained over 80% of our tenants in this financial year. Overall, for our office portfolio, we are now an average of 90% occupied, and we have recorded a mild negative reversion of mid-single digit in the last financial year.
On the IGC development, it is situated permanently atop the high-speed rail link and connected with the Airport Express line and also three MTR lines and have superb connectivity to Hong Kong and major cities in mainland and other parts of the world. It is also staying along with our mature development, ICC, two luxury hotels, and also the Artist Square Towers under construction, that will form a permanent hub on commerce, culture, retail, and entertainment. On the leasing side, apart from UBS, we have a number of blue-chip companies under very serious negotiation. I think there will be some noticeable transaction to be announced very soon, that will confirm our position as a wealth and asset center in the GBA area. Thank you.
Thank you. So could I have the next question? So the gentleman in the shirt.
Hi, this is Raymond Liu from HSBC. Thank you, management, for taking my questions. So I got four quick questions. The first one is related to the Hong Kong housing market. So as you, as management mentioned, like, there's a bit slowdown in terms of housing market, and also we see that the government is trying to support the housing market to try to stabilize it. Would the management expect there will be more supportive measures from the government to help the housing market to further stabilize in the next six to 12 months' times? So the next question will be related to the rental portfolios. So if you look at the portfolio side in the coming years' time, we see several major projects being complete, like the Nanjing IFC, the ITC project in Shanghai, as well as the West Kowloon project in West Kowloon.
Can the management share with us the approximate, like, incremental rental contribution that could come from these types of projects? And follow on this, to the third question, can you share some of the update on the pre-leasing process of the ITC shopping mall, the Maison, in Shanghai? And lastly, like, if you look at the recent comments on the measures in terms of contract sales, in terms of revenues, would you be confident to say that, like, the earnings of the company have bottomed in twenty twenty-four, and we should see some more improvement going onwards? Thank you.
Christopher, can you answer your question on Maison, Shanghai, right?
Sure. So the ITC Maison project is our biggest project to date, and it will be a mix. For the mall section, you picture a mix of top-notch brands across fast trades and lifestyle categories. So far, the pre-leasing has gone smoothly, and we've seen strong interest from a number of our luxury tenants who are interested in setting up flagship stores at the ITC project. The plan is to open the mall by phases from two thousand and twenty-five onwards, and I think the past success that we have enjoyed and continue to enjoy at the Shanghai IFC has really given us dividends.
So our team is working very hard to create a new project that incorporates all the learnings from our past projects and make it the best project we can deliver. And so far, I think maybe I can also comment on the Nanjing project. Nanjing IFC recently opened, formally opened this summer, is also seeing encouraging growth. And I think we've been able to establish good relationships with the luxury tenants. And we hope to be able to kind of bring them onto other projects and also engage them in special marketing promotion events, so that we can bring more customers to our shopping malls. Yeah.
Yes, on the government policy, I think our government will continue to boost our economy. That is beneficial to the sentiment and confidence of the market. And we are also expecting that there will be an interest rate reduction later this year, and that will induce a lot of renters becoming home buyers. I think the government can also consider to include residential properties as a valid investment for immigration to Hong Kong. That will be helpful to our market, too. Thank you.
Yeah, I think for the housing market and for the even for the office take-up rate, we hopefully there will be more mainland companies and mainland tenants coming to Hong Kong, right? If a lot of the mainland medium-sized enterprise want to go overseas, I think most likely they will come through Hong Kong, right? So Hong Kong should benefit, yeah. On the question about the rental portfolio, I think we are growing our rental portfolio, and I think the rental the investment properties location at the moment now we are building is slightly better than our existing portfolio. So you can assume that our rental income would go up per square foot wise.
I mean, the new ones will be better in terms of HK$ per sq ft, yeah, because given the location is better and also given that, the design is better, too. On the question about whether earnings have bottomed, I think it all depends on the development profits in Hong Kong and in China. I think we are feeling, very comfortable out there about the recurring rental income. But as to the, development profits, I think, of course, personally, I think the development profits are, you know, should go up, given that we are selling more volumes, right? But of course, I think, the, in terms of the, market environment over the next two years, there's so much uncertainty regarding the geopolitics, about the politics in the U.S., about the, U.S.-China Cold War.
So there are a lot of unpredictables, but I think Hong Kong has already gone through four years of recession, right? So, and now, property prices, residential property prices have gone to 2017 level. So I think development profits should stabilize at this level, but I think it all depends on whether the property sales market can sustain. But I'm confident in the long term, yeah.
So thank you. We'll have the last question. So the gentleman in the third row.
Thank you for taking my question. I'm Brian Cho from Bank of America. So three questions. First one is, following Mr. Lui's earlier comment on the high-end residential project at Victoria Harbour. As you know, the mainland macro is still pretty uncertain, do you really feel that a couple of US rate cut will be really that positive to the high-end luxury demand? And, based on your sales strategy, will you consider focusing a little bit more on asset churn rather than margin maximization? Second, also on resi, on your upcoming Sai Sha project. Obviously, huge in size and in a relatively new area as well. So, what type of buyers are we targeting, and what is the sales strategy and margin outlook be like?
Lastly, on mainland retail, could you quantify a little bit the positive reversion that we achieve in FY 2024? And, given the luxury sales is pretty lackluster this year, any risk of turning into negative reversion next year? And in particular, if you can comment a little bit on the tenant sale of Shanghai IFC Mall, as well as the leasing demand, that would be great. Thank you.
... Yes, as I have mentioned, I think the luxury sector will be doing well in the next 12 months, as we have seen a lot of luxury buyers are coming back. And of course, recently, we have sold a number of units in Dynasty Court, having a price tag of HKD 50 million-HKD 100 million per unit. I think most of these buyers, whether locals or non-locals, they need more time to arrange their financing. But we can provide them very flexible payment terms and expect to record the sales later, or maybe some nine months, 10 months later. But the sales can change easily when we are providing flexible payment terms.
On the Sai Sha project, it is a very unique project, blending with great nature and beautiful environment, and attaching to comprehensive sports facilities provided by the Go Park and the water park. And also, different amenities with wellness and health and also a very convenient traffic link. It only take a few minutes drive to Wu Kai Sha and University MTR station. Over the years, we have extensive experience to develop to build and manage large-scale development, like the Park Island in Ma Wan, two decades ago. And in recent years, that is the Yoho series, including the Park Yoho and also the Wetland project series. Both of them are carrying a few thousand units.
Lately, the Novo Land project comprising over 4,500 units, of which we have sold over 70% already. For the Sai Sha project, we are going to build and market according to an orderly pace and according to the current market condition. For Phase 1 A of the project, only carrying 800 units, we are going to market in early next year, and we are very confident that it will be well received. Thank you.
For the mainland retail market, in terms of our rental portfolio on the mainland for the financial year, last financial year has achieved a strong positive growth, I think double digit in RMB terms. And the reversion is also positive in the double digit regions. Of course, there's a. I mean, as you can read in the news, that the market has seen a slowdown in the second quarter of 2024, mostly we believe due to the gradual and normal process of the border opening. But at the same time, I think we recently saw the yen has come back up, so that probably will normalize over time. And we also have. We continuously stay in very close touch with the luxury brands.
They are cautious, but I think similar to the office market in Hong Kong, they choose the best quality projects to expand. So take our Shanghai IFC, for example. We are kind of in serious discussions with some of our major luxury tenants to further expand their global flagship stores in the mall. So we are in the process of concluding some deals, and redesigning some parts of the mall. And we believe that will, upon completion, be able to push the Shanghai IFC to a higher level, right? And as I mentioned just now, the recent opening of Nanjing IFC has been, I think it's, we can qualify as a success.
And it's first, it's a reflection of the trust we have built with luxury brands. Second of all, is also to the team's execution capability. So, we believe that this can help us thrive through this more challenging period. Thank you.
Thanks very much. So this is the end of today's briefing. Thanks all for coming, despite the weather. So we have some refreshments that, So, have a safe trip home. Thank you.