Welcome to Sun Hung Kai Properties FY 24 interim results analyst briefing. I would like to wish you all a wonderful year of the Dragon. As usual, I will give you an overview of the result and the performance of our business, followed by Q&A sessions with our senior management. Let me start my presentation with the group's financial review. Please note that all figures are in Hong Kong dollars unless otherwise stated otherwise. For the six months ended 31st December 2023, the group's Underlying Profit amounted to HKD 8.9 billion, decreased by 6% year-over-year. The decrease in Underlying Profit was mainly due to lower property development profits from the mainland, which was largely offset by the increase in profits from property rental, hotel, and other non-property business.
Including the net effect of a valuation gain of around HKD 432 million on investment properties, the reported profit increased by 9% year-on-year to HKD 9.1 billion. The underlying earnings per share was down 6% to HKD 3.07, while reported earnings per share was up 9% to HKD 3.16. On dividend, the board of directors has declared an interim dividend of HKD 0.95 per share, decreased by 24% from the corresponding period last year. This line shows the profit breakdown by segment. The group's property development profit dropped by 39% to around HKD 2 billion. As mentioned, it was mainly due to lower sales volume of residential units on the mainland. On rental business, the group's net rental income increased by 5% to around HKD 9.3 billion. The increase was driven by 3% growth in net rental income from Hong Kong portfolio and an 11% increase in net rental income from the mainland portfolio.
With the return of mega events and the revival of inbound tourism in Hong Kong, the group's hotel business continued to recover and recorded operating profits of HKD 430 million compared to an operating loss of HKD 63 million for the same period last year. Profit from other business also increased by 5%, and the group's total operating profit for the period under review was down slightly to HKD 14.3 billion. On financial position, as at the end of last year, the group's net debt amounted to HKD 126 billion, while net gearing ratio was 21.2%. I'll also explain the reasons for the higher net gearing ratio in the next line. Interest coverage for the past 12 months was around 5.4 times compared to 8.8 times a year ago, mainly due to much higher interest expenses. The net gearing ratio temporarily exceeded 20%, and there were two reasons for that.
Firstly, during the period under review, the group has made payment of the final dividend for last financial year. Secondly, a substantial portion of the residential sales proceeds in Hong Kong have not been received during the period. We expect to receive residential sales proceeds of over HKD 20 billion in the next few months, and the net gearing ratio will be reduced markedly by the end of this financial year. The group will continue to stick to the prudent financial management discipline and focus on cash flow management, including strict control on CapEx with a highly selective approach and net debt with prudence and strengthening of recurrent income from property investment portfolio and non-property businesses. We also aim to achieve fast asset turnover for the property development business.
To achieve a better alignment of the group's RMB denominated assets and liabilities, the group has been utilizing more RMB denominated borrowings, which already accounted for 16% of total debt. As at the end of 2023, about 41% of the group's total borrowings were either fixed-rate debt or RMB floating-rate debt. The group is one of the best-rated developers in Hong Kong, as evident by an A+ rating with stable outlook by S&P, an A1 rating with negative outlook by Moody's, and has continued to maintain excellent banking relationships with abundant banking facilities and enjoy easy access to debt capital markets. Let's move on to the performance of different business segments.
As at the end of last year, the group's total land bank in Hong Kong was about 58.8 million sq ft of attributable GFA, comprising 36.6 million sq ft of completed properties and 22.2 million sq ft of properties under development. Among the completed properties, retail portfolio accounted for 33%, while offices accounted for 30% of the total. For properties under development, about 15.3 million sq ft were residential property for sales. Of these, 2.1 million sq ft have been sold. During the period under review, the group had two residential sites with a total GFA of about 1 million sq ft through lease modifications. These two sites in Yuen Long are located near to the group's existing properties, such as YOHO Mall and River. The group will continue to adhere to its prudent financial discipline, including a highly selective approach in land bank acquisition.
Turning to the property development business in Hong Kong. For the period under review, the group's recognized property sales in Hong Kong increased 25% year-on-year to HKD 3.6 billion, mainly derived from the sales of completed residential units. Development profit was up only 3% to over HKD 1.2 billion because of the lower development margin. Please note that all residential projects for sale to be completed in FY 24 are scheduled for handover in the second half of this financial year. Contracted sales not yet recognized amounted to HKD 32.8 billion, of which around HKD 22.4 billion is expected to be recognized in the second half of this financial year.
Hong Kong residential market continued to be affected by elevated interest rates and uncertain economic outlook during the period under review, and we achieved about HKD 9.6 billion contracted sales in Hong Kong, of which HKD 5.8 billion came from YOHO WEST Phase I and HKD 2.2 billion from the sales of completed stock. As seen in this map, upcoming launches in the next 10 months will include a wide range of residential projects across the territories, including mass market projects such as NOVO LAND Phase III in Tuen Mun and YOHO WEST Phase II, and luxury projects such as Cullinan Sky and Cullinan Harbour in Kai Tak. Such diversified product mix will appeal to different potential home buyers. Next, let me discuss about our Hong Kong rental portfolio.
During the period under review, the group's well-diversified rental portfolio in Hong Kong continued to achieve stable overall occupancy at around 93% and recorded a modest increase in rental income. The increase was mainly driven by higher gross rental income from Hong Kong retail portfolio, which achieved positive rental refreshment and accounted for 52% of total rental income in Hong Kong. However, such an increase was partly offset by lower rental income from the office portfolio. The group has built a close and long-term relationship with tenants and customers and adopted proactive approaches such as ongoing asset and services enhancement to attract customers. Such efforts have enabled the group to respond swiftly to market trends and achieve a stable occupancy of 95%.
The tenant and trade mix of the group's malls is constantly refined, and in line with prevailing market trends, we continue to collaborate with our tenants and business arms to initiate promotional offers and activities. Pet and family-friendly facilities were introduced through refurbishing outdoor areas at several of the group's malls. For example, the rooftop area at New Town Plaza in Sha Tin was reconfigured as the Dino Park, the first and the largest dinosaur-themed outdoor playground in the city. It has rapidly gained popularity as a hotspot for families, boosting the mall's traffic and tenant sales. The group has leveraged The Point integrated loyalty program for its malls to drive footfall and enhance shopper experience. Recently, The Point rebranded its mobile app interface to further enhance user experience. Instant Point Earn was a new service, allowing members to earn points immediately after purchase with a simple QR code scanning.
In addition, the Points members can enjoy free EV supercharging through Points Redemption. Despite the challenging office leasing market, the group's quality office portfolio, particularly its landmark IFC and ICC, continue to benefit from flight to quality trends. This, together with its high green building standards, professional management services, and the group's strong relationship with tenants, helped the group to maintain a satisfactory occupancy of about 92%. The group has continued to embrace innovation to enhance its property investment portfolio. Townplace West Kowloon , the group's brand-new service apartment, is the latest showcase. Soft opening in October 2023, this 843-room development offers a hybrid short and long-term leasing model with a diverse room mix and smart system. It provides hotel-class service on demand, catering to the flexible accommodation needs of young talents and professionals from different parts of the world.
Market response to the first batch of rooms is encouraging, and many of the guests are young professionals. Over the near to medium term, the group's recurring income base will be further expanded. YOHO MIX in Yuen Long and the shopping mall, beneath The Millennity in Kwun Tong, are scheduled to open this year. In the medium term, the high-speed rail West Kowloon terminus development will be completed in FY 26. All these new projects create strong synergy with the group's existing properties in the vicinity. Next, let me talk about our property business on the mainland. As at the end of last year, the group's total land bank on the mainland was 67.2 million sq ft of GFA on attributable basis, comprising about 21 million sq ft of completed properties and over 46 million sq ft of properties under development.
Among the completed properties, 44% of them were shopping centers and 38% were premium offices. Moving on to the property development business on the mainland. During the period under review, the group's recognized property sales on the mainland fell by 60% year-over-year to about HKD 1.6 billion, mainly due to lower sales volume of residential units. As at the end of last year, there were unrecognized advance sales amounted to HKD 6.1 billion. For the first of this financial year, the group achieved advance sales of over RMB 3 billion on the mainland, mainly coming from the sale of residential portions at Hangzhou IFC. As shown in the table here, the group's launch pipeline over the next 10 months includes three projects with a total attributable GFA of 850,000 sq ft. Now, let's move on to the discussions of the performance of our mainland rental portfolio.
During the period under review, the group's gross rental income from mainland rental portfolio increased by 12.2% year-on-year to about HKD 3.1 billion, or up 15.5% in RMB terms to CNY 2.9 billion, which is also the highest rental income achieved on the mainland in the first half of the financial year. The increase was mainly driven by over 21% rental growth in retail portfolio in RMB terms, partially offset by a 3% depreciation in RMB during the period. The group's retail portfolio on the mainland continued to perform well with positive rental reversion. Shanghai IFC Mall housed a wide array of internationally acclaimed retailers from across the globe and continued to sustain high occupancy.
Despite a challenging office leasing market on the mainland, the group's Grade A offices at Shanghai IFC, Shanghai ICC, and the first two phases of Three ITC achieved satisfactory occupancy, while the occupancy of the newly completed Three ITC Tower A is ramping up with satisfactory pre-leasing rates. The group's several integrated projects under development will further bolster the recurring income stream. The most anticipated sections of the Nanjing IFC Mall, consisting of top-tier brands, were soft-opened early this year. The shoppers are attracted by the mall's curated collections of retailers' choices and striking storefront designs. The mall also complements with two Grade A office towers and Andaz Hotel within the complex. In Shanghai, Three ITC in Xujiahui is a much-anticipated project to be completed in the near future. Construction work of the 370-meter-tall office skyscraper Tower B is scheduled for completion by early 2025.
Both Tower B and the completed Tower A are designed to be world-class green growth spaces and have already obtained platinum pre-certification and certification from LEED, respectively. The 2.6 million sq ft mega shopping mall, ITC Maison, is scheduled to open in phases from 2025 onwards. That's covered the group's mainland rental portfolio. The next item to be discussed is our hotel operations. The group's hotels' business in Hong Kong continued to recover amid the return of mega events and the revival of inbound tourism. On the mainland, Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Pudong also achieved an encouraging performance during the period. As a result, the operating profit of the hotel segment amounted to HKD 430 million compared to an operating loss of HKD 63 million per cent per year last year.
For new hotels, the business of Andaz Nanjing Hexi Hotel at Nanjing IFC has been ramping up since its opening in April last year, while Four Seasons Hotel Xuzhou, the first Four Seasons hotel in Jiangsu Province, opened in December 2023. Let's turn to our ESG initiatives. The group is committed to obtaining a LEED goal of platinum ratings for its new major commercial properties. The Millennity and the Shopping Mall underneath achieved a WELL core platinum certification, the first WELL certification for an office-cum retail development in Hong Kong. The group also integrates smart technology into its operations to reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions, and promote green construction, green energy transformation, and green commuting actively. In fact, we are the first developer in Hong Kong to purchase and use fully electric construction equipment.
The group makes the most of these resources to enhance social well-being, and we recently lent a site in Yuen Long to the government for the construction of light public housing. We continue to support a wide range of sports-for-charity activities and nurturing the younger generation through different means. For more information about our ESG performance, please refer to the appendix of this PowerPoint or our website. Next, I will discuss the market and business prospects. In Hong Kong, the uncertain external environment and elevated funding costs will continue to weigh on investment sentiment in the near term. Further policy relaxations, rising home rents, and potential rate cuts will benefit the residential market. Various government initiatives will support the recovery of inbound tourism and consumer sentiment. Quality office buildings will perform amid the trend of flight to quality, although supply issues may persistently weigh on office rents.
On the mainland, the central government has implemented policies that are conducive to stabilizing expectations, growth, and employment. And this, together with the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, should help strengthen the solid foundation for stability and improvement. Initiatives in promoting technological innovation and expanding domestic demand should take the lead in supporting sustainable long-term economic development. Moving on to our business prospects, the group places strong emphasis on cash flow management and will continue to adhere to prudent financial discipline, including the implementation of strict control on CapEx, sticking to a highly selective approach in land bank replenishment, generating cash flow from property investment portfolio and non-property businesses, launching new residential projects for sale, renovating, etc. Over the next few years, several of the group's new investment properties are coming on stream, creating new sources of recurring income.
In the near term, YOHO MIX and the shopping mall below The Millennity in Hong Kong are scheduled to open in 2024. On the mainland, contributions from new projects, including Nanjing IFC Mall and Three ITC in Shanghai, will further bolster the group's recurring income stream. Over the medium-long term, major integrated projects such as the high-speed rail West Kowloon terminus development in Hong Kong and Hangzhou IFC will also contribute to the group's recurring rental income. As in the past, the group will capitalize on its premium brand and strong reputation for delivering high-quality properties to achieve fast asset turnovers for its property development businesses. Large-scale, well-diversified economies with good transportation networks will continue to appeal to potential buyers. Finally, I would like to wrap up my presentation with a message extracted from the experiment statement.
For over half a century, the group has navigated through various economic cycles and crises alongside Hong Kong. Its culture of continuous learning and decades of experience in weathering storms have endowed the group with resilience to cope with difficult times and emerge as a visionary developer, consistently fostering innovation in its pursuit of excellence. The group's unwavering commitment to quality over the years has earned it a trusted brand. This, together with its seasoned management and strong team spirit among staff members, makes up an integral part of the group's valuable assets. These, along with the group's prudent financial principles, time-tested business strategy, strong execution ability, and a corporate culture of moving with times, serve as the pillars of its solid foundation and business sustainability. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you.
So thank you, Brian. The Q&A session will start soon in a few minutes. So thank you for joining us for the Q&A session. Let me first introduce the panel members. Starting from your left, Mr. Brian Sung, Associate member of the Executive Committee, General Manager Corporate Planning. Mr. Christopher Kwok, Executive Director. Mr. Allen Fung, Executive Director. Mr. Victor Lui, Deputy Managing Director. In the center is our Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Raymond Kwok. Mr. Mike Wong, Deputy Managing Director. Mr. Adam Kwok, Executive Director. Mr. Chung will be joining us shortly, and Mr. Frederick Lee, Group Chief Accountant. May I now invite the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Raymond Kwok, to share with us the key messages of today's results announcement. Mr. Kwok, please.
Okay. Thank you all for coming. During the period under review, the group faced the challenges of an uncertain economic outlook and a high-interest-rate environment, which had an impact on business development. In the face of the challenging macro environment, the group placed great emphasis on cash flow management and prudent financial discipline, including maintaining a tight control on capital expenditure and being highly selective in Land Bank replenishment. These measures, coupled with the group's robust and sizable recurring income generated from a quality property investment portfolio and non-property businesses, have helped put the company in good stead to withstand adverse economic conditions. During the period, we launched YOHO West Phase I in Yuen Long, NOVO LAND Phase II A in Tuen Mun, and University Hill near the Chinese University of Hong Kong for sale. The units were well received, reflecting buyers' continued strong confidence in our group's developments.
As always, the group will launch new projects for sale when they are ready. Over the next 10 months, major Hong Kong projects on offer will include The YOHO Hub II in Yuen Long, the third phase of NOVO LAND in Tuen Mun, the second phase of YOHO WEST in Tin Shui Wai, the first phases of Cullinan Sky and Cullinan Harbour in Kai Tak, and the first phase of a large-scale project in Sai Sha near Ma On Shan. The group will also put up for sale its unsold completed residential units and some of its non-core properties, including the recently renovated Dynasty Court in Mid-Levels. On the mainland, a new phase of Shanghai Arch in Shanghai and new batches of the joint venture development Hangzhou IFC will be put on the market for sale.
The group's diversified property investment portfolio remains a reliable source of substantial recurring income. Many of the group's offices and shopping malls are part of an integrated project, complementing each other and benefiting from transport interchanges and large-scale residential developments in the vicinity. In addition, the group's leasing teams stay up to date with market trends and regularly refine the trade and tenant mix of the malls to keep abreast of customer needs. Our loyalty program, The Point, an integrated loyalty program for SHKP malls, has recently revamped its mobile app. A new service called Instant Point Earn was introduced to further enhance shoppers' experience, drive footfall, and boost tenant sales. Furthermore, pet and family-friendly facilities were introduced to boost traffic and expand the customer base. For office buildings, the group has consistently pursued asset and service enhancements, ensuring they meet stringent international and local corporate environmental requirements.
Over the years, many of our office buildings have attained top ratings of green building certifications. The group is growing its property investment portfolio to bolster recurring income base. The group's service apartment project, TOWNPLACE WEST KOWLOON, soft-opened in October 2023. Market response to the first batch of rooms was very encouraging, with many young professionals from the mainland and abroad being attracted to the hybrid short and long-term leasing model. Including this development, the group's portfolio of service apartments now provides a total gross floor area of over 1.2 million sq ft, offering diverse types of lodging in various locations to incoming talents from different parts of the world. YOHO MIX, an extension of the group's flagship YOHO Mall in Yuen Long, and the shopping mall beneath The Millennity in Kwun Tong, are scheduled to open in 2024.
In the medium term, the high-speed rail West Kowloon terminus development and the Artist Square Towers project nearby will join the group's ICC and two luxury hotels to form a unique commercial cluster in Hong Kong. With its proximity to the West Kowloon Cultural District, exceptional transport connectivity, and business opportunities brought by an increasing number of visitors using the high-speed rail, this commercial cluster is expected to become a distinctive hub in the Greater Bay Area, and will offer a wide range of commercial, retail, cultural, and entertainment options. On the mainland, our Nanjing IFC is the group's third IFC complex on the mainland. The mall within the complex had a soft opening in January this year with a positive response from the market.
Serving as a unique one-stop destination for shopping, entertainment, and leisure, the mall houses a selection of high-tier brands, including some that are new to Nanjing. Meanwhile, construction is currently underway for our Hangzhou IFC, another integrated landmark project by the group that upholds the IFC brand of excellence. In Shanghai, the flagship IFC Mall will open in phases starting from 2025 onwards. Prudent financial management is an important pillar underpinning the group's sustainable growth. The group has placed great emphasis on cash flow management, as at the end of 2023, the group's Hong Kong contracted sales yet to be recognized amounted to HKD 32.8 billion. Among this, about 22.4 billion is expected to be recognized in the second half of this financial year. In addition, the group will further strengthen its recurring income stream and continue its proactive leasing management to strengthen the competitiveness of its property investment portfolio.
A number of measures have been implemented to control construction costs without compromising on quality. The overall construction expenditure for its Hong Kong projects has already reached its peak and is expected to come down in the next few financial years. Looking ahead, Hong Kong will continue to benefit from robust institutional frameworks, a sound common law system, a simple and low-tax regime, free flow of capital, and a well-functioning exchange rate system under one country, two systems. These enduring advantages, coupled with a pool of professionals, are difficult to replicate worldwide and have supported Hong Kong's prominent position as a major international financial center. The legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law is now underway. Its future legislation, together with the national security law, will bring safety, stability, and a favorable business environment to Hong Kong.
With the support of the motherland, Hong Kong will continue to thrive as a global superconnector. The group has strong confidence in the long-term prospects of both the mainland and Hong Kong. Finally, for over half a century, Sun Hung Kai Properties has navigated through the ups and downs alongside Hong Kong and has overcome various challenges, including the Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis. With an unwavering commitment to quality, the group has established itself as a trusted brand while continuously pursuing innovation. Supported by our seasoned management, a dedicated team of staff, prudent financial discipline, agile business strategies, and strong execution ability, our group is poised to continue delivering premium properties and services in Hong Kong and on the mainland, meeting the diverse needs of our customers. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Kwok. We'll now open the floor for questions. Before posing your questions, could you please introduce yourself and the name of your company? May I have the first question? The gentleman in the second row on my right-hand side, please. Thank you.
Hi. Thank you. Carl Choi from Bank of America. I have three questions. First is on Hong Kong DP. In light of today's move by the government to relax property measures, just want to ask management's views about the outlook for the Hong Kong property market, especially property prices this year. I think some investors are concerned that Hong Kong could be facing a multi-year downturn in the residential sector. Just wondering what your views are. Second is on China DP. Just want to get an update on the Guangzhou South Station ICC. Given the market downturn, any risk about impairment? And third is about dividend policy. I think the group recommitted to 40%-50% payout ratio last time. I think the market sort of assumed that it would be most likely more at the high end, around 50% for fiscal 2024 at least.
Just want to ask about that, especially in light of management's comments on cash flow management. Is it possible that actually it could be more at the lower end this year, and then we reset the dividend and then try to maintain a stable dividend beyond 2024, or dividend will be just more volatile going forward depending on DP booking? Thanks.
Yes. Yes, on the first question. On the residential market, certainly, we welcome the announcement of the government today on the relaxation of the controlling measure, or what we call the spicy measures, on stamp duty, and together with the relaxation of property mortgages by the HKMA. I think this would activate the property chain as a whole and also energize our residential sales later this year, leading to a quicker recovery of the market. You have already seen in December last year that we have an overwhelming sales in our YOHO West project. Clearly, there is a pent-up demand in the market, adding to the fact that there are still over 60% of homeowners who have paid up their mortgages, and interest rate may peak later this year.
So together with the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the TTPS, and the QMAS of the government, together also the employment and the migrant policy of the government are very well received. We have observed from the government rental index that residential rents are rising steadily, and the surge is continuing. So overall, we are expecting that there would be a more active market in this year, probably an increase in volume and transaction. Regarding the property prices, as we are still on the course of economic recovery, I think property prices may rise just moderately in the range of 5%-10% each year. Thank you.
I think in terms of Guangzhou South Station, I say obviously, apart from, I think, from Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, whose residential sales are still relatively stable, I think all other parts of China, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou, of course, is affected. But I think, honestly, with recent sentiments, we see some pickup, and that with a strong boost in the recent announcement of measures, we expect the property sales market in these places to pick up, including Guangzhou. And obviously, the recent relaxation from Hong Kong buyers being able to just easily transmit down payment and so on has given us a more interested bias in Hong Kong. And I would like to add that, to be honest, the area, if you visit South Station, needs I think these two years will be a dramatic change.
First of all, you see International School, a very famous one, opened already last year, and then a huge, huge soccer stadium to open end of this year. On top, there's a major intercity railway line that connects from Shaoxing, Foshan, Dongguan, Wenzhou, right, from all to the city centers of that to the South Station, all within one hour. I think that will be starting to be a very game-changer, where 45 minutes, you can go to all the major cities in Greater Bay Area. And finally, because our land cost is very low when we purchase it, there's no risk of impairment.
Well, I think clearly, we didn't expect good news from the Financial Secretary this morning. So when we made the estimate, we were assuming that the tough measures would continue. So hopefully, I think the market would rebound a bit after the Financial Secretary has lifted the measures. For us, I think we have given a range of 40%-50%, I would say. I think whenever we reduce our absolute dividend, we'll hold onto the 50%, the top end of the 40%-50%, rather than the 40% of the lower end, yeah. But I think, hopefully, with lowering interest rates and with all the restrictive measures of the government being relaxed and normalized, I think, hopefully, I think well, I think we're quite sure of that, right? Our original second-half sales forecast can easily be beaten.
And then, well, the more properties, completed properties, we can sell, of course, the more earnings we can book. Anyway, to answer your question, I think we have decided to reduce the interim dividend, well, anticipating that the FS would not lift any of the measures. But anyway, it's good news. So therefore, of course, I think before the FS announced the measures, we had a very conservative profit estimate, yeah. Thank you.
May I now have the second question? The gentleman in the third row closest to the aisle on my right-hand side.
Thank you, management. This is Raymond Neil from HSBC. I got three questions. The first question is related to the properties sales in Hong Kong. Actually, it's just a bit of follow-up on the sales expectation. So as the management mentioned, the company did not expect any changes in terms of cooling measures. Now, with all the changes happening, so should we expect the contracted sales for fiscal 2024 to exceed the full-year sales target that you set early this year, HKD 33 billion? If yes, what will be the key project that would drive the outperformance in the coming four months' time? This is the first question. And the second question actually is more on the macro, on the Hong Kong retail. We have been seeing the emerging trend of the reverse traveling by Hong Kong people to Shenzhen.
Does the management think this is a cyclical trend or a structural trend? If it's, how would the management handle this situation? And the third question is actually about the China retail's. We saw that very strong rental performance over the past six months. So can the management share with us the tenant sales trends recently in the past few months' time, and what would be the pre-leasing situation of the Shanghai ITC mall that we should anticipate in the next few months? Thank you.
Sorry, you're from HSBC, right? Oh, okay. I think on the sales, I think this more okay, yeah, please. Okay.
Yeah, yes. On the sales target, in the upcoming 10 months, we should have a number of projects to be launched, namely the Phase II of YOHO Hub, Phase III of NOVO LAND, and Phase II of YOHO WEST. And together with our two superior projects in Kai Tak, the Cullinan Harbour and Cullinan Sky, and also our JV project in Tin Shui Wai, and not forgetting our mega project, Sai Sha Residences, which is to be launched at the end of the year. We are very confident that the above projects will be very well received. However, for the first phase of Sai Sha Residences project, as we need to complete those related infrastructure before we can market the project, the first phase of the project may actually be marketed in the fourth quarter instead of the second quarter as we have expected earlier.
For the sales target in this financial year, we may slip a little bit to HKD 23 billion, but that sales of HKD 10 billion can be recovered a few months later. Thank you.
Actually, I think now that the mortgage limits have been raised, right? So the Dynasty Court if you buy a Dynasty Court unit, you can borrow 60%. So maybe you and your friends can buy several, and then our profits we can get our we can then raise our profit, actual profit.
Yes, I want to add that. In last year, actually, we have sold a few units in tower 2 of Dynasty Court, clinching a very high unit price compared with the secondary market, each unit worth over HKD 100 million. We are going to market Phase III of Dynasty Court very soon, which just be complete its renovation. It will be another means of our disposal of long-haul properties. Thank you.
Yeah, and also with the FS normalizing all these restrictions, right?
Yes, for sure. This will activate the sales as well, yeah.
As for the Hong Kong retail market, I think we've always had an open more pre-COVID times, we've always had an open border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. So I think it's not unusual to see increasing traffic flow between Hong Kong and Shenzhen after the border open because I think it just reflects a lot of pent-up demand post-COVID and also the fact that there are more entrances and exit points, particularly the high-speed rail station since COVID. But at the same time, I think we also since the borders have opened, we've also seen more mainland shoppers coming back to Hong Kong. So recently, during the Chinese New Year holidays, the number of mainland tourists have exceeded the 2018 levels.
We think that with the expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme on the mainland, we will also see more mainland visitors coming back to Hong Kong in 2024. As for our shopping mall performance in Hong Kong, I think over the past 12 months, we have seen good solid tenant sales growth across our mall portfolio in Hong Kong. As a reaction to Shenzhen, I think we've tried to be more proactive in terms of strengthening our tenant and trade mix, for example, on the food and beverage, and also in terms of enhancing retail experiences with more events, more collaborations with our brands, and also in terms of refurbishing some of our more outdoor spaces to introduce more pet and family-friendly areas. An example is the Dino Park in our Sha Tin New Town Plaza. It's been proven to be very popular.
So it's a good model we want to replicate for other shopping malls. At the same time, we also want to make better use of our The Point loyalty program to expand our customer base and also to build more stickiness. One of the ways to do that is this year is by introducing an instant point earn function, which helps with the easier point accumulation. Also, on the other hand, we also have an EV charging service where you can use your points to redeem, so help people earn and burn points more easily. Those two functions so far have proven very popular among our members. Going forward, I think we remain optimistic about the performance, upcoming performance of our retail rental portfolio. We've also seen positive rental reversions in the first half of this financial year.
Finally, I think just to respond to the recent government initiatives, we think kind of the approach of hosting more mega events in Hong Kong is definitely the right approach. We also hope there's more and more voices also recently across the business sector and also in LegCo calling for the relaxation of the tax-free limit, right? Currently, it's HKD 5,000 for mainland tourists in Hong Kong. I think if we can lift that to a more reasonable level, maybe not quite the RMB 100,000 at Hainan Island, but at least somewhere closer, I think that will also give a major boost to the retail market. So that's an upside that we can hope for in 2024, yeah. And for mainland, for the mainland retail market, obviously, it's more buoyant than the one in Hong Kong.
For you today, we have achieved very healthy rental and sales growth in mainland China across our malls, especially for the luxury malls. There has been some traveling of shoppers who used to shop in major cities to overseas, but so far, we've seen limited impact on our group's luxury malls. A case in point is for our Shanghai IFC Mall that retail sales actually is almost double compared to pre-COVID levels currently. For the so we are continuously optimistic about the prospects for 2024. For our ITC project, for the it's one of our biggest once completed, it'll be one of our biggest projects ever created, not just in Shanghai, but also for SHKP. So we have confidence that it'll become a landmark when it's done. So far, for our office tower, the leasing rate at the tower A is close to 70%.
For the shopping mall, the ITC Meizhong, we have so far received strong interest from luxury brands. We hope we can bring something new to the market when it opens in the latter half of 2025 and beyond. Thank you.
Maybe I'll add for Hong Kong retail. I think Hong Kong people go to the Shenzhen to shop, right? But we can go every day, but not the other way. Shenzhen people can only come to Hong Kong once a week or something, right? And furthermore, I think when the Shanghai people understand if they come individually, they can only come to Hong Kong twice every year. It's very limited. So if mainland, if Beijing government can allow unlimited number of people, subject to, of course, they'd have the money to come and say but in China, we have 1.4 billion people. If we just have 0.1% people coming to Hong Kong, I think we'll be doing very well. It's just, I think, all these restrictive measures during COVID and also in the past, Beijing should relax.
For example, right, even when the mainlanders go to Singapore and Malaysia and Thailand, they can just go and stay there for a month or something, right? And I just had a call with a friend in Singapore. He said, "Wow, so many mainlanders in Singapore," right? And even for average hotel, he's paying SGD 600 per room or whatever, right? So what I mean is, right, if we Hong Kong, if we just ask for most favorite treatment, same as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hainan, we'll be doing very well. It's just that I think. 2 more cities adding to the individual travel list, right, and unlimited travel to Hong Kong, subject to that you have some money.
So we'll be doing very well because I'm sure for a lot of mainlanders, after the three years of lockdown, they would love to come and visit Hong Kong too. So I'm optimistic because I think the latest measure of including two more cities adding to the 49 cities, if they allow us unlimited or even once a week coming, right, our hotels would do very well. I think judging from Singapore because the Singapore hotel room rates are quite a bit higher than the Hong Kong room rates, yeah. Anyway, and also as what Christopher said, right, if we ask for more tax-free allowance like Hainan and even Hong Kong and Macau so we just ask for most favored anyway, don't argue, just ask for the most favored treatment. Yeah, we'll be doing well, yeah. Yeah.
Okay, thank you. So any further questions? So the gentleman in the middle in the second row, am I right?
Hi, Fed. Hi, Fed. This is Ken Yeung from Citi. I have three questions. The first is on Kai Tak. I see that you have an upcoming pipeline include two luxury projects in Kai Tak. Well, indeed, there's still a lot of inventory and competition scene. So what will be the pricing strategies and margin on these two projects? And is there any risk for impairment of that two projects in Kai Tak? And secondly is on office because I see other people didn't highlight it. How is the office outlook? Are we seeing any chance of when the office market is going to bottom out? And how is the reversion outlook for this year? And also, what is the leasing status for the high-speed railway office project?
And lastly, I want to follow up on the dividend because you mentioned very clearly on the dividend side, which is because that is set before the budget speech. But that was, let's say, cut around 25%. Can we see this as a guidance for full year in terms of DPS because that you already definitely know how much profit that you're going to book in the second half? And also, is there any risk for given that you said that you intentionally set at the high side of 40%-50% range, are we seeing that there may be potentially further cut after this year on dividend?
Yes, on the Kai Tak projects, we all know that some projects of our peers in the area are facing challenges in marketing. But for our two projects there, we do not see any risk of asset impairment. On the contrary, we are very confident that these two projects will deliver good margin for us in the next two years. For our Kai Tak project, Cullinan Harbour, it is situated at the most prominent location in the Kai Tak with panoramic harbor view. Whereas for the station project, Cullinan Sky, it is uniquely connected to MTR station and the shopping mall and also has a superior height over the neighboring retail projects in the vicinity. I'm sure that this project will be very appealing to both local and mainland luxury buyers later. And for Cullinan Harbour, we are going to launch the market very soon.
In next month, we are going to put a number of units for tender, and you will see very soon we can clinch a lot of transactions at record prices of the area. On the second question regarding the office market, actually, since the border reopening in last year, we have seen an increase in leasing inquiries and inspections, particularly in the CBD area, as the trend of flight to quality prevails. We also see that the centralization trend to the core location continues as more occupiers are seizing the opportunity to relocate to core areas due to more attractive rentals compared with two years ago. Demand mainly from financial services users also includes a number of mainland companies. For One and Two IFC-like buildings where we are almost fully let, the project continues to be the most sought-after location for leading financial institutions.
Whereas for ICC in West Kowloon, the project is also benefited by the high-speed rail link and the West Kowloon Cultural District. It is often 90% occupied. For non-core locations like Kowloon East, we all know that there are a vast majority of tenants are on the trade-related business, and unavoidably, their businesses are being affected by the macroeconomic uncertainty. So some of the landlords allow adopting a more flexible stand on rental negotiation. But our buildings in Millennium City are not affected as most of our tenants are belonging to large and renowned tenants or users in different sectors. They are very stable and have high demand on quality and single landlord and also management. So same as our other buildings in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay, they are also well-positioned with high occupancy.
Overall, I think for the office market, I think Central and Tsim Sha Tsui will continue to be stable and outperform other submarkets as most of the tenants are in financial services. As for non-core location, I think leasing activities will be more competitive due to the upcoming supply in Kowloon East, Hong Kong East, or even the Wong Chuk Hang area. For our new project in West Kowloon, we all know that it is connected to the express rail link and also connected to the free MTR station and also the airport express line. We have great connectivity to major cities in mainland, also other parts of the world. We all know that UBS will take up 250,000 sq ft later. Actually, we also have a number of big names in financial services under negotiation.
I think that will strengthen its position as the center of wealth management latter, apart from this being a tourist, entertainment, and cultural destination. Overall, I think compared with older buildings, new development like our West Kowloon project, they are much preferred by major tenants or MNCs due to nowadays the high demand on ESG, IT facility, and also quality management. Thank you.
I'd like to add that I think with your employers, like what you're working for, right, they should take care of your health, wellness. You should upgrade you should ask them to upgrade yourself to all those the new buildings, all those ventilation, right? If your building is over 30 years old, you should demand your employer that if you want to work five days a week, they have to make sure that they look after you. And of course, you should have some hotel, mall, a lot of good restaurants nearby. Otherwise, you say, "I want to work from home." But anyway, for the Kai Tak, I think we believe that our two projects are the best in the Kai Tak area. And also thanks to the FS lifting all the restrictive measures, now owner-occupier can just pay 40% down payment, right? 60% mortgage rate, right? 60%.
Even for luxury units.
Yeah, even for luxury units, yeah.
That helps a lot, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. And also we expect a lot of our mainlanders, all these talented people, right, would over time come to Hong Kong, yeah. And on the office, I think for we noticed that more and more people from the mainland travel by high-speed railway to Hong Kong. They prefer the high-speed railway to coming by the air because I think it is much more in terms of punctuality, I think much more punctual, right? Much more reliable too. So we believe the XRL project, it is actually, it is in the town center, right, next to West Kowloon. And also it is the only high-speed railway project that is in the center, center of cities, right? Yeah, yeah. So we are confident that over time. Given that it's a new project, right, and also with the best back maybe, Eric, you can do your sales pitch a bit.
How well do we take care of the tenants here?
Apart from the connection, which is I think Victor explained is excellent, connecting to all the railway system, I think it's also very important that I think our score in WELL is among the highest in the world. So I think apart from the well-being of the people working in the office tower and also I think it will also beneficial to all these neighbors, which we have provided the green link for them to enjoy the environment as well as going to the West Kowloon Cultural District to enjoy the sea again. So I think it's one of the very unique projects in the world where the high-speed rail station actually is situated in the center of the city.
And apart from actually UBS, the Ping An Group, which is also a partner, they are also going to relocate their world headquarters to this project, and they are finalizing the leasing requirements with us at the moment, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. And actually, I think I'm sure your employees are all global banks, right, or global securities companies, right? I understand European has very high standard. I think you should request your boss. You talk about ESG. Why do you forget me, right? But anyway, on the dividend side, I think of course, I think the interim profit was made before all these restrictive measures were relaxed. So when we work out the interim dividend, of course, we take into account the full year forecast times 50%, right? But of course, all the previous forecasts made two days ago, I think we can now we have to revise our numbers given that the buyers can now borrow more money, right? And also Beijing would want Hong Kong, definitely. We hear about what Sabo Long said, right? It's country-on-country system common law, low tax.
I think Beijing would want Hong Kong to be a global to be a global financial center, at least Asia's best financial center, yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. In the interest of time, we will take questions from two more analysts. May I have this gentleman, the one in the second row on my right-hand side?
Yeah. Thank you, management. This is Mark from UBS. I'm excited to go to the high-speed railway station project. I got about three.
I think Eric is upgrading all the requirements. You have a very demanding boss in Hong Kong.
Actually, we just ordered a whole new set of air conditioning systems for UBS this morning.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You did the best work. It's a new building. Much better than your Singapore. Wow, your Singapore building. Very old. Wrongly located.
I'm looking forward to it.
I was there. This would be our 10-year-old standard, right?
Yeah, much better.
Yeah, but yours will be much better.
Yeah, thank you. I'm looking forward to that one. So I got three questions. I think number one is about on the margin side. I think booking margin now is about 30%. What is the unbooked margin for the Hong Kong side, and what's the sales margin we're expecting going forward? And I think in the launching pipeline, I did not see Victoria Harbour in North Point. We did not include in the launching plan. Is there any reason for that? And then for the second question is about on the hurdle rate for the new acquisitions. So management, you mentioned we'll be more selective in acquiring new land going forward. So what is about the hurdle rate we are looking at? Lastly is about on the retail side, just a follow-up. I understand some of our more sales has already existed pre-COVID.
What is our reversion expectation for FY, for maybe calendar 2024, and any particular trade we are worrying and may need to give more support to the tenants? Thank you.
Yes. On the sales strategy, I think every developer have their own strategy considering their financial and then bank position. For us, we are always trying to strike a balance between volume and margin. For mass projects like NOVO LAND or YOHO WEST, we are aiming for a quicker asset turnover. As you know, for YOHO WEST, within 20 days, we have disposed of 1,050 units, which is quite a record in the past few years. And I think you all agree that we have priced the project correctly to achieve such a good sales. And you know our cost there, and this project is going to deliver a reasonable margin for us. As for those luxury projects which are quite difficult to replace, we are always trying to measure to launch according to our measure pace, like those in our units in Victoria Harbour.
Actually, I think you still remember in last year that we have disposed almost 4,000 units, mostly comprised of mass projects. In the next few months, we are going to focus more on the luxury projects, like the Cullinan Harbour, and together with our renovated Dynasty Court. As for our unsold inventory, I think a lot of it is in our luxury stock, which we will monitor the market condition and launch at the right timing. Given that there will be more boost-up measures in Hong Kong and mainland economies, I think we are going to have a lot of eye-catching transactions in our luxury portfolio in this year. On the acquisition side, we have a sizable land bank that is sufficient for us for development for five years and beyond.
Having said that, I think you also noticed that we are always actively participating on government land sales under our prudent financial discipline, which shall deliver good margin. At the same time, equally important is that those sites should be suitable for our development and that we can create value and appreciation for our customer. Thank you.
I might be supplementing Victor's point on land acquisition. As you may be aware, we are very active in pursuing converting agricultural land in the NT. But as you are aware that we have completed two land exchange projects in Yuen Long, where location is next to Grand YOHO. The first one, the second one is next to River and Park YOHO. And I think the completion of these two projects will add about 1 million sq ft land bank to our portfolio. And I think upon completion of these two projects, because of its proximity to Park YOHO and Grand YOHO and YOHO Mall, it will create a lot of release a lot of synergy. And it might be worthwhile to mention, as probably the FS delivery speech today, they are very actively pursuing the Northern Metropolis.
This initiative will unleash quite a lot of potential, development potential in our cultural land bank in that area. Obviously, we will adopt a very prudent financial discipline in pursuing these projects in various stages, including planning approval, lease approval, and in final negotiation of land premium. When time is right, price is right, we may enter into deals.
For the Hong Kong retail market, I think we've already seen rental income bottoming out and a positive reversion achieved in the first half of this financial year. We expect this to continue, I think. We can also ride on some of the government's more positive initiatives, some of which I just announced this morning as well, especially ones on revitalizing our Hong Kong's tourism brand and government-sponsored events such as the fireworks and Harbour Lights Show. I know the government's also thinking more about how they can collaborate better with the community in terms of the timing, in terms of leveraging both business sector and government power. We see there's definitely a change in attitude. I think we can ride on that together to help revitalize Hong Kong for 2024.
If you look at more specific trades, I think since 2019, I think there's been definitely been some changes. For example, there are trades such as cinema, right, which is, I think, facing a structural issue because fewer people there are fewer movies, fewer people going to the theaters. Those, I think but at the same time, I think as you were talking about just now, there's also a rise in other activities such as pets, outdoor activities, right, and sports, right, that people are spending more time on. So I think it's just a matter of adjusting some of these trades out. And then on the other and then there are other trades such as cosmetics, right, which is still not back at pre-COVID levels. But that's primarily one of the major reasons is because of the issue of Hong Kong not having the most favorite treatment, right?
I think a lot of Hainan Island is a major beneficiary. Well, we are at a major disadvantage to Hainan Island in this aspect. And so that's why I think if the tax relief can be relaxed, I think there will be a major boost to the cosmetics trade. And finally, I think maybe just a comment on the F&B trade. There's a lot of talk about, oh, people going across the border to eat and Hong Kong being deserted. I think to a certain extent, we do see from the data we analyzed, we do see people spend most of the spending across the border is actually indeed on F&B and on necessities. But I think for us, we just have to remind ourselves that Hong Kong's strength has always been an international city, right?
Now that the borders have opened, I think we need to push ourselves to bring in more international operators first in town to Hong Kong. On the other hand, I think Hong Kong is also a very attractive launching pad for mainland F&B operators, right? I'm sure a lot of you already have read about this in the news, right? They use Hong Kong as their first port of call to go overseas. I think we just need to be more proactive in capturing those opportunities, yeah.
I think to supplement what Christopher said, right, we have a lot of Black Pearl restaurants wanting to come to Hong Kong, right? But what we need is a government relaxing a bit on the labor rules, right? And I think a lot of our very successful F&B restaurants will want to open in Hong Kong, especially in our malls. And also, for I think mainlanders also like to come to Hong Kong to buy this jewelry, gold, buy Chinese medicine, right? Yeah.
Healthcare.
Healthcare products. And I think buy insurance products, wealth management products, right? I think and also, I think Sabo Long already said also, they want to encourage more Hong Kong to be make sure the financial hub, financial and trading hub for the mainland. So we are very hopeful. And also, it seems I think for I think reversion, we're already seeing rental going up, right? Because now that COVID is over, more tenants can now compete longer term, whereas during COVID, no one was sure. So we are confident that on the rent on the retail portfolio, I think we are already 95% filled for our retail mall, right? Right? Yeah. So that's good. So we're hopeful, yeah. Actually, I think also to supplement what our question is about margin, right?
I think our priority now is to in a way, we want to reduce leverage as well as try to sell more so that we can buy land cheaper, right? As Victor said, right, whatever we can replace by buying from government, we're going to sell because I think we are a long-term player. And if we can buy land from the government, we look at this future profit margin, right? Of course, I think it's important to sell more as long as we can replace the land bank, right? As long as we can reduce the gearing, then we can then use the money to buy more land to make sure that our future profit margin will be healthy, right? So we are a long-term player. We have seen all these ups and downs for several times already, right? So it's a good opportunity.
The more, if we can buy more land of the same type, and we'll buy if we can buy land cheap, we're going to sell.
More quickly.
More quickly, yeah. And also, I think for so therefore, I think fortunately, we have our investment and recurring income, right? You have to expect that for developer, for development company, the profits would be quite volatile. But in the long term, if we can buy land cheap, the profit margin will be assured for the future, yeah. So anyway, I think we'll the profit margin is not current profit margin, but future profit margin. And I think you can expect a lot of development companies, developer companies, will suffer high volatility in their profit margin, yeah. It should be expected if you look through previous cycles, yeah.
Thank you so much.
One last question, yeah?
Yeah, we'll have the last question. The gentleman in the third row, talk to the lady over there.
Thank you, management. This is Carl Chen from JP Morgan. I have three questions. The first question is more about the mainland Chinese property market. I'm just curious about your view on the overall outlook on the mainland Chinese residential property market. Are we confident in achieving our full-year target of RMB 5 billion in the Chinese mainland market? My second question is about the overall lending costs. Hopefully, the interest rate may be coming down by the end of this year. What's our view on the average borrowing cost for our group? My last question is about capital recycling. Do we currently have any plans on disposal of non-core assets? In general, what would be our strategic priorities for this year? Would that be capital recycling, growth, management balance sheet management, or would that be acquisitions? Yeah, that would be my last question.
Thank you.
Okay. Thank you. On the Chinese property market, I think as I mentioned, there's still some areas, some cities that have held up very well. And you see our very strong sales in Hangzhou in the past half year. Obviously, Shanghai, still a very hot market, and Beijing. And so I think with the recent I think you will see at least two months, three months especially, there's a very more and more aggressive measures from the central government in boosting. And they're seeing the significance of reviving the property market and the confidence. So I think that all that positive effect adding together will lead to a better environment coming up. And so in terms of our sales target, we've actually already achieved HKD 3.8 billion out of the HKD 5 billion, mostly from Hangzhou IFC and some from Foshan and GBA Guangdong projects.
We have maybe HKD 1 billion, a little bit more to chase. And we're confident in that. And may I add, if we obviously plan to launch our Shanghai Arch, which is our mega project there, and that remaining phase is close to getting all the approvals with a very more reasonable price. So if that can launch well, it will help our really surpass our sales target significantly. And then the later of the year, we also have Hangzhou IFC service apartments coming up in more like July, August. So overall, we're confident we could reach that target.
Thanks.
Oh, my friend thought we got over too long. But interest rate, yeah.
Our borrowing cost right now is currently at 4.5%. We think that this level of interest rate will stay in the second half of the financial year. Looking forward, we think the interest rate will be reduced. We know there will be a few more interest rate cuts in the end of this year. Looking forward, we believe that the borrowing cost will be going down, okay?
I think 40% of our debt are fixed rate or in RMB, right?
Yeah.
40%, right?
Right. Yeah. It's a very way down for each borrowing rate, right? Our fixed rate right now is 2.6%, right?
Yeah. So anyway, I think our objective is for all our mainland China projects to borrow in RMB, right?
Yes, right.
It seems borrowing much cheaper in China than in Hong Kong, yeah.
Yes, do you? Our average rate RMB right now is something like 3.6%, right? So it's much cheaper than borrowing in Hong Kong.
Yeah, yeah. And on the mainland Chinese sales, I think our projects are primarily in the tier one and the top tier two cities like Shanghai and Hangzhou, right? I think if especially for our Shanghai project, right, we'd be happy if they allow us to price whatever we want. We are severely kept by what the government we still try to sell at high price. But anyway, if they allow us to sell, we are quite confident. We are confident about Shanghai, right? Yeah. So in a way, for the mainland Chinese property market, you have to distinguish between tier one and the lower tier two and lower tier three cities. And on your question about the capital recycling, I think as Victor said, we are already selling Dynasty Court, right?
I think for all the low-yielding non-core, I think the advantage of us, we are a developer as well as an investor, right? So we can always look at the replacement pipeline, right? If we can replace a good property, we are prepared to sell as long as we can replace it with even better as Victor and Eric said, right? New buildings are always better than the old buildings, right? Because I think of, right? Because of the technology and innovation. But I think on the capital recycling, we are mindful that we want to make sure that our leverage are not too much, right? Because I think we are mindful that we need to make sure that we keep a good investment rating, right? Yeah. So I think this is our lesson in the past, right? Make sure that we have a well-financed balance sheet, right?
On the capital recycling, for sure, I think we'll be recycling capital. As we said early on, if we can buy cheap land, we're going to recycle faster, yeah. Thank you.
Thank you all. This is the end of today's briefing. We have prepared some refreshments outside. Please stay and enjoy. Thank you.