Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Sun Hung Kai Properties FY 2021 annual result analyst briefing. As usual, I'll give you an overview of the annual result and the performance of business segments of the group, followed by a Q&A session with our senior management. First of all, I will go through the financial highlights. Please note that all figures are in Hong Kong dollars unless stated otherwise. For the year ended 30 June 2021, the group's underlying profit amounted to HKD 29.9 billion, representing an increase of around 2% year-on-year. The increase in profit is mainly driven by higher contribution from property development and rental income from the mainland and non-property businesses, partially offset by the lower development profit and rental income from Hong Kong and operational loss in hotel segment.
The reported profit increased by 13% year-on-year to around HKD 26.7 billion, after taking into account the revaluation loss of investment properties of HKD 3.1 billion, which was mainly due to lower open market rents of Hong Kong retail portfolio. Similarly, the underlying earnings per share was up 2% to HKD 10.31, and reported earnings per share rose to HKD 9.21. On dividend, the board of directors has recommended a final dividend of HKD 3.70 per share. Together with the interim dividend of HKD 1.25 per share, the total dividend for the full year will be HKD 4.95 per share, the same as last year. This slide shows our dividend payout over the past few years. Let's talk about the profit breakdown by segment. Benefiting from the significant increased contribution from the mainland developments projects, the group's property development profit grew by 14% year-on-year to around HKD 21 billion.
Driven by the revenue recognition from Shanghai Arch Phase IIB, property development profit from the mainland surged over 215%. Decline in development profit from Hong Kong was due to lower residential completion as compared to last year. On rental business, the group's net rental income increased by 3% to around HKD 19 billion. The increase was mainly attributable to robust rental growth in the mainland portfolio, partly offset by the decline in net rental income of Hong Kong's rental portfolio. Net rental income from mainland rental portfolio jumped by 39% year-on-year in HKD terms, or 31% in RMB terms. In Hong Kong, net rental income dropped by 6%. The group's hotel business in Hong Kong continued to be severely affected by the pandemic due to the absence of tourists, resulting in an operating loss of HKD 511 million.
Profit from other businesses increased by 9%, largely due to the growth of data center operations and improved the operational efficiency of telecommunication businesses. The total operating profit grew more than 8% to over HKD 44 billion for the year under review. For financial position, the group balance sheet remains solid. The net gearing ratio as of 30 June was at a healthy level of 16%. Interest coverage was around 13.8 x, and net book value per share rose to around HKD 205. Under our prudent financial management, we maintain sound financial position. The group also maintains A1 and A+ credit ratings from Moody's and S&P respectively, both with a stable outlook. We shall continue to stick to the prudent financial management discipline. Now, let's move to our property business in Hong Kong.
As at the end of June 2021, the group's total land bank in Hong Kong stood at around 57.9 million square feet of attributable GFA. It includes completed properties of around 34 million square feet and 23.9 million square feet of properties under development. Shopping malls, together with offices, accounted for the majority of completed properties at around 60% of the total. For properties under development, the majority is for residential use, representing to 74% of the total. During the year under review, the groups acquire five sites, adding about 2.6 million square feet attributable GFA to our Hong Kong land bank, of which 50% from farmland conversion and 44% from public tender. We will continue to increase our land bank through multiple channels, including farmland conversion.
The 5 sites we bought during the year include the Kwu Tung project in Fanling, which is located adjacent to the planned MTR Kwu Tung station and close to the planned Hong Kong Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Lok Ma Chau loop. The residential cum retail project has a total GFA of over 1.1 million sq ft, of which 88% are for residential units, and the remaining will be developed into a shopping center.
Moving on to the property development business in Hong Kong. For the year under review, the groups recognized HKD 34.9 billion property sales in Hong Kong, down around 5%, and the development profit decreased by 11% to HKD 14.6 billion, primarily due to less completions of residential development during the year, while development projects remain satisfactory. As of the end of June 2021, about HKD 25.7 billion of contracted sales were yet to be recognized.
In terms of completion, we completed a total attributable GFA of 2.1 million sq ft, of which 1.7 million sq ft were residential projects. For the next three financial years, we expect an average annual completions of around 3.4 million sq ft, of which around 2.6 million sq ft are residential developments. Apart from this new completion, we have around 0.7 million sq ft of completed properties, which have been sold and will be booked in the coming years. During the year, we achieved contracted sales of HKD 23.2 billion in Hong Kong. The lower contracted sales achieved during the year was mainly due to slower than expected progress in obtaining pre-sales consent for two large-scale residential developments. Recently, we have launched Wetland Seasons Bay phase I, and already sold over 900 units in the last three weeks.
Since July this year, we have already achieved contracted sales of HKD 9.2 billion. As shown in this map, we plan to launch eight new projects in FY 2022, spreading across different regions in the city and covering residential developments from mass to luxury, as well as an industrial project. The first one is Wetland Seasons Bay phase I and II, with over 1,600 units, of which 900 units have been sold. In addition to new launches, we will continue to sell inventories. Now, let's move on to the performance of our Hong Kong rental portfolio. The group's diversified rental portfolio in Hong Kong continued to provide sizable recurring income with an overall average occupancy of about 91%. Overall gross rental income amounted to HKD 18 billion, down 5% year-on-year.
The decline was largely due to the retail portfolio, while rents and occupancy of the office portfolio remain relatively resilient throughout the year. The lingering pandemic continued to weigh on the group's retail portfolio, leading to negative rental reversions. The gross rental income decreased by 8% to HKD 9.1 billion. The gross rental income of the group's office portfolio slightly declined by 1% to HKD 6.6 billion. As the pandemic has been subdued in Hong Kong, the tenant sales of the group's retail portfolio have bottomed out in late 2020 and continue to see positive growth in recent months. Our regional malls continue to perform better than those tourist-focused ones. Our seasoned leasing teams have managed to optimize the tenant mix by bringing in new retailers such as trendy lifestyle brands and special restaurants, and introducing a wide range of measures to drive footfall.
We see overall occupancy of the group's retail portfolio have improved in the recent months. To safeguard the interests of its stakeholders and to support its retail tenants amid the pandemic, the group has been allocating resources to the continuous facility upgrades, asset enhancement works, and introductions of innovative technologies. Apart from installing contactless facility and upgrading air ventilation systems, we have incorporate green and wellness concepts to add various recreational facilities at selected malls. We have also leveraged our listed subsidiary, SmarTone's 5G network, along with other advanced technologies such as Internet of Things, to raise the hygiene standard and operational efficiency of our shopping malls. We make good use of offline and online platforms to launch comprehensive marketing campaigns. Our loyalty program, The Point by SHKP, under the SHKP malls apps, has boosted its popularity, with membership more than 1.2 million in two years.
The group has continued to upgrade the app's functions and strengthen the rewards platform. After the retail portfolio, let's move on to talk about the performance of our office portfolio in Hong Kong. During the year under review, overall occupancy of the group's office portfolio remained at a relatively stable level of about 92%. Hong Kong IFC offices were virtually fully let, while ICC recorded stable performance. The Millennium office cluster maintained a reasonable occupancy despite keen competition in Kowloon East. For our joint venture development at 98 How Ming Street in Kowloon East, the construction is scheduled for completions in 2023. The project is designed to attain platinum ratings under LEED and WELL. According to the latest approved planning, the high-speed rail West Kowloon Terminus development will feature a brand-new concept with lot more open space for public use.
The total GFA of the project is about 3.2 million sq ft, including a 600,000 sq ft shopping mall. We target to obtain platinum ratings for this project from LEED, BEAM Plus, and WELL. This conclude my discussions on the property business in Hong Kong. Let me turn to our property business on the mainland. As at the end of June 2021, the group had a total land bank of around 75.3 million sq ft of attributable GFA on the mainland. Completed properties amounted to 16.3 million sq ft, of which 46% were shopping centers and 39% were office. Among the 59 million sq ft of property under development, about 47% will be developed into high-end residence for sale.
In April, the group won the bid for a large-scale mixed-use project adjacent to the Guangzhou South Railway Station, consisting of residential, service apartments, office, a shopping mall, and hotel space. Guangzhou South Railway Station is the busiest high-speed rail station in the country, with excellent connectivity. This addition will further strengthen the group's strategic presence in the Greater Bay Area. The developments with a total GFA of 9.3 million sq ft is set to become an integrated station city transport hub. The project will adopt flexible and balanced strategies for leasing and sell arrangement with a maximum of 57% of the GFA for sale, and the remaining portion for rental and long-term investment purpose. Next, let's turn to property development business on the Mainland.
During the year, the group recognized around HKD 11.1 billion property sales on the mainland, up 155% year-on-year, mainly driven by the revenue recognition from Shanghai Arch Phase IIB. Development profit jumped 215% to around HKD 6.4 billion. As at the end of June 2021, around HKD 4.6 billion contract sales were yet to be recognized. During the year, we achieved RMB 4.9 billion attributable contract sales on the mainland, exceeding the full year sales target. The table here shows a breakdown of individual projects. The table in this slide shows the major new launch on the mainland in the next nine months, including residential units of Suzhou ICC and Jianghehui project in Hangzhou. Turning to the performance of our mainland rental portfolio.
During the year, the group's gross rental income from mainland rental portfolio increased by 25% year-on-year to RMB 5.2 billion, or 33% in HKD terms. Benefiting from the domestic spending boom in luxury goods, the gross rental income of group's retail portfolio grew 47% year-on-year to HKD 3.9 billion. Gross rental income of office portfolio increased by 13% to around HKD 1.9 billion. The gross rental income from the mainland accounted for 25% of the group's total gross rental income during the year, comparing to 19% for FY 2020. Supported by the robust domestic consumption, the group's retail portfolio on the mainland recorded impressive growth in tenant sales, exceeding the pre-COVID level.
An integrated loyalty program called SHKP Club was introduced in Shanghai to strengthen the synergy of the group's mall in the city and to offer shoppers with a more convenient cross-mall consumption experience. On the office front, the group Shanghai IFC maintain high occupancy amid keen competitions. These premium office developments remained a preferred choice for leading corporations. Shanghai ICC has high committed occupancy. Offices in the first two phases of ITC in Shanghai were virtually fully let. In Shanghai, the remaining phase of the group's mega ITC project is currently under construction. Its 220-meter tall premium office tower is scheduled for completion in mid-2022. The pre-leasing of the Grade A office tower has received encouraging response. Constructions of the remaining parts, including a 317-meter skyscraper and a 2.5 million sq ft mega mall, is progressing smoothly. Both the office towers are designed to obtain LEED Platinum certificate.
In Nanjing, offices at Nanjing One IFC has achieved a committed occupancy of about 80%, while the leasing of Nanjing Two IFC, which was completed in the second half of 2020, is proceeding satisfactorily. The luxury Nanjing IFC Mall is scheduled for opening in phases from 2022 and have received encouraging pre-leasing responses. We are making good progress to expand our mainland property investment portfolio. Over the next three financial years, the group is expected to complete around 10 million sq ft of properties for investment purpose in terms of attributable GFA, including the remaining phase of ITC in Shanghai. The group's mainland property investment portfolio will increase to about 225 million sq ft by end of FY 2024, and will further expand to over 28 million sq ft by end of FY 2026. We discuss the hotel business performance.
During the year under review, the group's hotel portfolio in Hong Kong continued to record operating loss due to the lack of tourists, despite some signs of improvement since the beginning of 2021. To alleviate the negative impacts, we have introduced different initiatives, such as creative staycation programs. On the mainland, The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong saw a recovery from the pandemic during the year. For Andaz Nanjing Hexi, we plan to open it from 2022. I would like to share with you about our ESG initiatives. The group has worked hard to achieve considerable progress on the ESG front. This slide showcase some of the key initiatives, including the development of Wetland Seasons Park and an environmental-friendly residential project. The launch of Smart Works, a 5G-enabled site management system to enhance safety of construction workers.
A major transitional housing project in Yuen Long, and green building certification for our existing major rental properties. On the environmental front, the group has established targets to reduce electricity consumption, greenhouse gas emission, water usage, and construction waste to help combat climate change. We also aim to attain the LEED certification for all new investment properties. In particular, the group has targeted to obtain LEED Gold or Platinum ratings for its core commercial projects under development. During the year, the group's dedicated work on ESG has been well-recognized by external parties, including ESG rating agencies. For instance, we are a member of Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index Series with AAA rating. We have received an MSCI ESG rating of A during the year. That cover our business update. Let me talk about the market and business prospects.
In Hong Kong, economic recovery is likely to continue amid mainland's healthy economic development and improved global prospect, while the relaxation of the cross-border travel restriction remains the prerequisite for a full recovery of different sectors. For the primary residential markets, solid end-user demand and low interest rate environment will underpin the market, particularly for most market segments. Luxury segments will perform better upon lifting the cross-border travel restriction. For retail sector, retail sales have largely bottomed out and are improving. On Grade A office market, improving sentiments amid the ongoing global economic recovery is underway. The mainland economy will continue to perform well, underpinned by the dual circulation strategy and well-contained the pandemic. For primary residential markets, solid end-user demand continues. Land and home prices are likely to remain stable. For the retail sector, domestic consumption growth will continue to support tenant sales.
On Grade A office, market momentum remains positive, with increasing inquiries. Turning to our business prospects. In Hong Kong, we believe the performance of the group's rental portfolio and hotel business will be constrained by the cross-border travel restriction in the short run. We will continue to leverage a wider application of SHKP Malls app and promotional campaigns to bring more shoppers to our malls. On property development fronts, capitalizing on our ample resources, we will launch development projects for sale once ready. On the mainland, boosted by healthy domestic consumption, the group's mainland retail rental portfolio is expected to perform well. In the medium to long term, we will continue to strengthen our core business by acquiring land selectively, both in Hong Kong and major cities on the mainland. We shall speed up the conversion of farmland into buildable sites in Hong Kong.
Moreover, the group will continue to build large-scale integrated projects in Hong Kong and major city on the Mainland. The combined GFA of new additions to the group's property investment portfolio in Hong Kong and on the Mainland is expected to exceed 16 million sq ft in the next five years. Finally, I would like to wrap up my presentation with a message extracted from the chairman's statement as follows. The group is confident in its future business development and prospects. With its extensive knowledge and experience accumulated during the ups and downs of about half a century, the group will weather the upcoming uncertainties well. Its forward-looking and experienced management team, together with a solid financial position with sizable recurring income, will be able to turn future adversity into opportunities.
As a caring and socially responsible company, the group will continue to contribute to building a better world through its commitment to ESG. In particular, issues on climate change and green building. The group's pursuance of excellence, which has been strongly embedded in its vision and mission, will enable it to advance the best interests of its customers, employees, shareholders, and business partners, and the community as a whole. This concludes my presentation. I look forward to meeting you all in person next time. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back for joining our Q&A session. Now, let me introduce the panel to you. From your left, Mr. Brian Sum, whom you've just met. Mr. Christopher Kwok Kai-wang, Executive Director. Mr. Allen Fung Yuk-lun, Executive Director. Mr. Victor Lui Ting, Deputy Managing Director. The center is Mr. Raymond Kwok, Chairman and Managing Director. Mr. Mike Wong Chik-wing, Deputy Managing Director. Mr. Adam Kwok Kai-fai, Executive Director. Mr. Eric Tung Chi-ho, Executive Director, and Mr. Frederick Li Ching-kam, Group Chief Accountant. Before we start, may I invite our Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Raymond Kwok, to share with us some key messages. Mr. Kwok, please.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. During the year under review, some of the group's businesses continued to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and cross-border travel restrictions. The overall results remained stable, and we recorded an underlying earnings growth of around 2%. With the strong support of the country, Hong Kong now has a stable social and business environment. Together with the easing of the pandemic, a robust mainland economy, and sustained recovery of Hong Kong's economy, the group will have promising future ahead. Sun Hung Kai Properties is confident about the future of Hong Kong. The National 14th Five-Year Plan clearly supports Hong Kong in enhancing its status as an international financial transportation and trade center and developing into international innovation and technology hub.
Under one country, two systems, Hong Kong is well positioned to seize the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and integrate into the dual circulation development paradigm of the country. Our group continues to invest in Hong Kong and major mainland cities. During the year, we have increased our land bank in Hong Kong through different channels, including proactively converting agricultural land into buildable sites. We also work to expedite the construction of various quality residential projects to help alleviate the housing shortage in Hong Kong. Early this year, the group acquired sites adjacent to the Guangzhou South Station, which is the busiest high-speed railway station in the country. The project will be developed into another landmark transit-oriented development, creating synergy with the group's other projects along the high-speed rail, including the one atop the West Kowloon Terminus in Hong Kong.
The group promotes and adopts the latest technologies in different businesses to enhance the quality of its products, boost operating efficiency, and provide a better experience to customers, tenants, and residents. In addition to building our 5G digital infrastructure, the group has launched the city's first 5G lab at the Sky100 Hong Kong Observation Deck at ICC. The 5G lab will raise public understanding of 5G technology and its applications in enhancing business operation and quality of life. The group also works hard to fulfill its environmental, social, and governance commitments. Its residential projects will be developed into cross-generational communities with a wide range of facilities to meet different age groups' needs for living, work, shopping, and recreation. Our Wetland Seasons Park, which is adjacent to the Hong Kong Wetland Park, for example, has fully demonstrated the group's success in striking a balance between development and environmental conservation.
The group makes every effort to integrate the concepts of green building and wellness into its office buildings and retail premises, offering unique work and shopping experience in tune with the new era. Moreover, the group has leased out a parcel of land at a nominal rent for building United Court, a major transitional housing project in Yuen Long. This project supports the Hong Kong Government's effort to provide suitable temporary housing for underprivileged families who are waiting for the public housing to be available. Construction work for United Court has already started. Upon its scheduled completion in 2022, it will house 1,800 grassroots families. The group is confident that with different sectors joining forces to fight the pandemic, Hong Kong will eventually fully recover from the coronavirus crisis.
With a wealth of knowledge and experience, strong financial position, as well as a well-recognized premium brand, Sun Hung Kai Properties will capitalize on present and future opportunities and help Hong Kong integrate into the development of the country, enhancing the value for shareholders and other stakeholders alike. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Kwok. We will now open the floor for questions. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your phone keypad. Our first question is from Ken Yeung with Citigroup.
Hi. Thanks Management. Thanks. It's Ken from Citi. I have three questions. One is on property sales, second on Hong Kong office, and thirdly on the China TOD land bank. May I come one by one ? First is on your sales. Given that you have missed your FY 2021 target on delays in pre-sale consent, should we expect a higher contracted sales target for FY 2022 and FY 2023 on the stack-up of resources? Also, it seems to me that some luxury project like Victoria Harbour Central Peak has not been launched or not launching as aggressive as planned. Are we waiting for the border reopening before launching this? This is the first question. Second question on Hong Kong office is what kind of rent till reversion have you achieved for your renewal or relapsing recently?
How is your reversion outlook for this year? Are you concerned on the supply search for the calendar year 2022? Lastly, on the China TOD side, you have been focusing on buying major TOD projects on major train or metro station. How do we see the investment opportunity this year? Also for the Guangzhou South Station project, can you share with us your expected margins on the development side, on the DP side, and the initial view, on course, on the IP side? Thank you.
Maybe Victor can start first.
Yes, on the first question on property sales. Last year we have been some delay on the sales concern issuance under the pandemic. We are very confident to catch up later, as you can see recently that we have an overwhelming sales on Wetland Seasons Bay. In next month, we are going to launch another sizable project, The YOHO Hub in Yuen Long, atop the Yuen Long MTR station. Actually, in last year, our projects like Wetland Seasons Park and Regency Bay were all well-received. Over the next 10 months, we have quite a number of projects to be marketed, namely The YOHO Hub in next month, and also the completed Prince Central in Prince Edward Road. Also, phase II of Victoria Harbour, and also in last month of the year, that would be phase II of St. Michel, our luxury project in Sha Tin.
In 1st quarter of next year, that would be another sizable project, the Siu Hong project in Tuen Mun, together with our project in Pak Shek Kok. Lastly, also our JV project in Belcher Street in Hong Kong Island. You can see that we have quite a number of projects to be launched in the coming 10 months that would deliver a sizable revenue of HKD 45 billion in this financial year. In medium long term, with our ample marketing resources and also high level of projects under development, we are very confident that we can achieve an average annual sales of HKD 40 billion in Hong Kong. As for the luxury project, I think we all know that the luxury market is a bit subdued in the past two years, especially in 2019 and 2020 under the pandemic and also the social events.
We have seen luxury buyers are gradually coming back starting from this year, amid an improving political stability. Of course, the future border reopening will also boost the market sentiment, as properties in traditional luxury location are still very limited. Earlier this year, we have seen two government tender sites in The Peak were being sold at transacted price at high end of market expectations, so that we can see that confidence on this sector is still very strong. For our luxury project like Victoria Harbour, we are going to market phase II upon its completion. Also later this month, we are going to launch phase II of Central Peak that comprise of townhouses. They are in high-quality finishes, together with innovative design. For sure, these townhouses would be the highlight of luxury market in the coming months.
On the office side, we have been very successful to retain our tenants in the past few months. We have actually confirmed over 70% of our next expiry in the next 12 months. Rents are stabilizing, especially for our two flagship development like IFC and also ICC. For IFC, it continue to be a sought-after address for most of the leading financial institutions. Actually, recently, we have leased out two and a half floors to a renowned PLC financial institution on favorable terms. For ICC, I think it's going to enhance a lot in its future connectivity and vibrancy due to the high-speed rail link and also the future West Kowloon cultural area. Actually, ICC is doing a premium rent for the whole Kowloon area.
All in all, I think the offices in CBD and also Tsim Sha Tsui will continue to outperform other submarket, especially for development like IFC and ICC, that we have majority of tenants in the finance sector and also renowned PLC corporations together with MNC. For other submarket, like the decentralized office in Kowloon East, I think the leasing activity may be quite subdued in the short term. Our buildings are not affected as most of our tenants are belonging to renowned corporations in different sectors and with longer leasing term. Thank you.
Thanks for the question. The second question relating to the Guangzhou South Station, first of all, we're very happy to be able to embark on this project at a reasonable land cost. You noticed that this is a continuation of TOD projects that we've historically been able to execute successfully all over China and Hong Kong. Of the 9.3 million sq ft, we are actually also helping the local city government to drastically improve the existing public transportation network and also the car parking provisions. I want to emphasize, when we execute this project, we're not only looking at the enhancement of our commercial facilities, but also for the city. Together, there will be great synergy.
I say this because there will be 12 lines, if you include the high-speed rail lines, if you include the regional lines and the local MTR lines connected to this project. On top with the enhancing of the car parking and the buses and the taxis and the DiDis, together, I think it will be a great synergy we undertake. In terms of math, actually, I want to highlight to you, at the end of this year, there will be 11 lines already out of the 12 that connects to the south station. With all that, we will be able to go to Guangzhou City Center, be it the new Pearl River New Town or the old Liwan Town, we'll be able to get there within 30 minutes.
Within 47 minutes, of course, we can connect to our XRL station and there'll be a lot of synergy. With the completion of the new lines, we can get to the Baiyun Airport, Guangzhou Airport within half an hour too. With this being GBA Center, we believe it'll be very suitable for a lot of tenants. May I add also, if you were to pick a point in GBA that can get to all 11 cities, this will be the spot because it can get there within one hour through transport. From Guangzhou south station to all the nine plus two cities, you can get there within an hour. With our returns initially, we are looking to sell around 55%, over 55%, around 57% of our GFA will be sold as a balanced approach.
In fact, as soon as end of next year, we will start selling the first phase of our residential. We will only be keeping around 45% of the GFA for our long-term purpose, mainly as the mall, the office, and a bit of a hotel. For the parts that were remaining, the around 45%, we are expecting initial EBITDA yield. I am talking about net EBITDA yield of around 4%-6% on cost. For the sales portion, we are expecting healthy, reasonable mid-teens margin, and that includes not only the residential, some of the surface apartments, and also a sizable portion of offices. These offices will be easy to sell 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 sq m blocks, ready for GBA centers. Thank you.
Our next question is from Karl Choi with Bank of America.
Great. Thanks for taking my questions. I also have three questions. first one is on Hong Kong resi, second one is on Hong Kong retail, the third one is on dividend and gearing. For Hong Kong resi, I think given the rise in home prices year to date, I think quite a few investors are concerned about potentially rising risk for cooling measures. Just wondering, sort of what's management's views on that? Related to that, what would be Sun Hung Kai sales strategy going forward? Would you focus more on margin, but looks like you also want to catch up on some of the contracted sales from last year, would you focus more on volume? Second question is on Hong Kong retail sales.
Understanding that they have bottomed out, can you give a little bit more color on what kind of rental reversion you're seeing, whether spot rents have stabilized, and also what kind of occupancy costs are you seeing? Lastly, in terms of gearing and dividend, gearing level is still very healthy at 16%, but versus your 20% sort of target, doesn't necessarily leave a ton of room for further land acquisition, but I think there's still a lot of opportunities out there. Just wondering whether you intend to stick to that gearing target and also, what's sort of the dividend outlook in terms of payout and also absolute dividend? Thank you.
Yes, the residential market is now entirely an end user market. In the past two weeks when we are selling the Wetlands Season Bay, we have found that over 95% of purchaser belonging to first-time buyer and upgraders. Some people are talking about the vacancy rate in Hong Kong. Actually, the vacancy rate in Hong Kong for the residential market is not high at all, and even quite low for completed units in the hands of developers. Everybody knows that developers are rushing to launch their new projects once they got their sales consent, so I don't see any necessity to impose further measuring policy on the market. For our sales strategy, we are always sticking to the prevailing market condition and launch our new project at reasonable market price.
As you can see from our past experience, we can always strike a balance between volume and margin. Normally, for luxury project, which may need longer time to absorb, but for mass project, we are aiming for a quick and high asset turnover. As you can see, in the past two weeks we have disposed 900 units in Wetland Seasons Bay. As I said, in the coming 10 months, we shall have quite a number of projects to be launched, and we are expecting high volume of sales in this financial year. Thank you.
Yeah, in terms of the Hong Kong retail market, I think for our portfolio, the retail sales at our shopping malls have bottomed out. Since beginning of this calendar year, we have started to outperform the Hong Kong market. For our regional malls, which focus more on domestic consumption, have continued to perform better than those located in tourist districts. Second half of this financial year, we've recorded lower occupancy costs, and also have been able to keep vacancy within 10%. Recently, the government's e-consumption voucher scheme, that was launched in August, has had a very good positive impact on the retail sales at our shopping malls. We continue to offer extra promotion schemes on top of that, making use of our own consumption vouchers and also our loyalty program, The Point by SHKP.
That being said, the full recovery of retail sales is still subject to the timing of the border opening. For our border malls, we continue to record a negative rent reversion during the year. For the short term, we will rely more on short-term lease extensions as an option for ourselves to keep our tenants and also to be able to give us the flexibility so that we can rebound from once the border opens. Yes, the key is still opening the borders so that we can reach levels of sales that were achieved in 2019. Yeah.
On the third question, our dividend policy always is to pay about 40% to 50% of the underlying profits. Also, we will try to maintain the dividend per share, even though one year there may be a fall of earnings per share. On the gearing side, the debt to capitalization ratio is 16%, and we'll try to maintain the S&P rating of A+. That would be the criteria we try to achieve. Yeah.
Thank you.
Our next question comes from John Lam of UBS.
Thank you. This is John from UBS. Thank you for taking my question. I have two questions here. The first one is that I see that in the PowerPoint slide, the company plans to speed up or accelerate the conversion of the farmland. I'm not sure if management can give us more details regarding on the conversion of the farmland. This is the first question. The second question is about the outlook for the office and also shopping mall for both Hong Kong and also mainland China. I'm not sure if you can share more information in terms of the rental reversion and also about the retail sales outlook for both Hong Kong and also mainland. Thank you.
On the subject of land banking, particularly on farmland conversion, I think we have actually made our submission to government to convert the farmland into buildable land. It's under various stages of conversion, namely planning and lease modification, accounts for about 2/3 of our farmland reserve. I'm glad to share with you, government has actually put more initiative to speed up the whole process, and we have seen progress, have been a lot of improvement in recent months. I would like to share that apart from those projects, we have announced there will be one important or substantial project will be very close to final or advanced stage of conversion. I think that one will be announced within two or three months.
This is the report from but I'd like to share, probably you're aware that we have made submission to government for the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme, and it's part of our ESG initiative, and we're in the process of waiting for government to approve, and we hope this will help to alleviate the housing shortage. Particularly for this project, we're going to provide 2,600 public housing units as opposed to about 1,400 public units. With that, if that project can be implemented, it will help to alleviate the shortage of housing.
Sure. On the retail market in Hong Kong and China, I think for Hong Kong, as I said previously, I think it really depends on when the borders open. Maybe I'll add a little bit more to that. Recently, we're actually positive that once the borders open, I think the Mainland tourists would still come to Hong Kong to shop, right? We've recently actually done an internal survey, where we found out that people from Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area, they remain very interested in coming to Hong Kong for shopping and services when the border reopens. Even though they've become more sophisticated and demanding over the years. They want better retail experiences, better promotions.
I think we will be well prepared to capture the upside when the border opens by making use of our loyalty programs to engage customers directly and also enhance our on-site amenities, especially outdoor and wellness concepts.
Which have been in high demand since the COVID outbreak. For China, I think we've seen a very robust growth in both retail sales and rental income in the past year. In fact, I think retail sales is at an all-time high at this point. Going forward, I think so far it's been shown that the domestic consumption in China has been very strong, supported by the dual circulation strategy. We believe that it will take more time for international travel to resume normality. Kind of the domestic consumption will continue to be very strong. We continue to see brands, especially luxury brands offering exclusive product ranges and services for the customers on the mainland. We believe that going forward, the strong tenant sales will be sustainable even though we are talking about a higher base, but the prospects are still very bright.
Thank you.
John Lam, I'd like to add, for the shopping environment in Hong Kong, it's getting better, especially with the Financial Secretary's e-consumption voucher scheme. In August, we have found out that our points members spent more than they spent in July. The e-consumption voucher scheme has helped. I think people are coming back for dining and for shopping. As you know, when you experience going out to IFC, you can see there are more people are dining and walking around in shopping mall. The economy is not too bad, right? The unemployment rate is only 5.2%. I think we believe that when the border with the Mainland opens up, I think the sales for our tenants at our malls will improve substantially.
Thank you.
Our next question comes from Cusson Leung with JP Morgan.
Hi, management. I have three questions. First on China land banking. I think after Guangzhou South Station, is that going to be the project that the company will be focusing on over the next few years? Actually there are other attractive land banking opportunities available in China right now, especially given the deleveraging trend in China for the public companies. Second question is, just want to see if you can give us any update on the progress of the last phase of the ITC in Shanghai, and when should we be expecting the pre-leasing progress to process to start? The last one is regarding your ESG initiative. Can you highlight some of the explicit targets that the company has set for itself to achieve as far as ESG is concerned? Thank you.
Actually, I think at the moment now on the mainland, right, we have several major projects ongoing, right? One is the Shanghai IFC. The other one is the Hangzhou project, the joint venture with Ping An. The third project would be what Adam said about the Guangzhou South Station, right? Also Nanjing. Number four project would be Nanjing. It's about three million sq ft. We are busy already with the projects on hand. Of course, I think for the right opportunity, we will look at projects. I think we will be looking selectively at major cities only and only at the transit-oriented projects, yeah. On your question about IFC Shanghai, I would ask Eric. Yeah, go.
Thank you. For ITC Shanghai, for phase I, phase II completed already, the offices are actually fully let. For the remaining phases, phase III and phase IV, the smaller tower of the two, which is something like 220 meters tall, will be completed by the middle of next year. The pre-leasing result is very encouraging. The shopping mall in the main park, which is around 2.5 million sq ft, will be completed by the end of next year. Despite a slight delay last year because of the COVID, we'll be able to catch up the progress this year. Basically, it's on schedule.
On the question about ESG, maybe Mike.
On the subject of ESG, I would like to highlight two issues. One is to set some targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas. I think we have couple of targets or KPI for our projects to meet this ESG initiative on electricity, on power consumption. The next 10-year target is to reduce power consumption by 13%, one three percent. On the greenhouse emission, we target to reduce by 25% in the next 10 years. On the water management, we will reduce water consumption by 5% over the next 10 years. The general guideline for reduction of energy and water and power consumption. I must mention that the green label for our future projects, and we are committed to obtain highest green labels for our commercial investment projects, particularly for our high-speed rail project in West Kowloon, and our premium projects in China as well.
We are target to get the premium LEED standard up to the Platinum level. This is our commitment.
Also, in general, we have highlighted it in my chairman statement with the title, "Sustainable Development." I've highlighted the general direction we are following. Yeah. Maybe when you have time, please read our chairman statement section on sustainable development. Thank you.
Thanks. Our next question comes from Raymond Liu with HSBC.
Thank you, management, for taking my questions. I got two in mind. The first one is about the business structures. If you look at Asia, some company conduct a mega M&A, and some company make a selective business restructuring to drive higher earnings growth. Can the management share with us, how do you think the existing business structure of Sun Hung Kai Properties, is it optimal? If it's optimal, are you confident that the earnings of the company will improve again like the time in between 2015 to 2019? This is the first question. The second question is about Mainland China property development business. The physical market out there is getting more challenging, and some local peer have slowed down their expansion pace. Will you consider to scale up your investment in the residential products there?
Can you also share with us your latest contracted sales target for this fiscal year in Mainland China? Thank you.
On your first question, I think our major business is property development, therefore, I think our strength is our recurring income. That we have quite a big pipeline on investment properties, focusing in all the tier 1 or top tier 2 cities on the mainland. We are confident that over time, the rental income of these properties under construction, when they are complete, our rental will go up. For example, like the West Kowloon project. Also, as we mentioned before, our Shanghai ITC, our Hangzhou project, our Nanjing project, and also the Guangzhou South Station. Organically, our rental income will go up over time. On the development front, we are not slowing down. As Mike Wong said, I think we are trying to increase our residential land bank through agricultural land conversion, also participating in land tenders.
On your second question, I think our strength really on the Mainland is on the integrated project with hotel, retail, and office. On the residential side, we are not as fast as the Mainland developers. Our management tend to be very cautious, making after that we don't break any laws. Therefore, don't expect us to expand too much on our residential completion. We see our strength on the Mainland more on the integrated project in the best cities and the best location, especially the project with a lot of railway lines around our project. Yeah.
Thank you.
Just supplement, the sales target is coming up for this year will be HKD 7 billion. If you look at our historical range, we are mostly from HKD 5 billion-HKD 10 billion. I think ongoing, as our Chairman says, even this year, most of our projects in the residential we sell, or the service apartments we sell, are part of integrated projects. Be it coming up our Hangzhou residential sales or our Suzhou ICC residential sales. They are all, I think, ongoing. You can foresee that trend from us. HKD 7 billion.
For the interest of time, we will take the last question, which is from Praveen Choudhary with Morgan Stanley.
Hi. Thanks, Stella. My question is related to the company's non-property business, for example, SUNeVision or SmarTone. I just want to understand what's the future of those non-property businesses. Do you want to spin off, et cetera? The second thing is, SUNeVision is doing very well in the data center. Just want to understand if management wants to go into adjacencies such as data center, property management businesses, like some of the other companies like ESR has gone into to capture that high growth segment. Thank you very much.
Allen, please. Yeah.
Factually, basically SmarTone and SUNeVision have already been spun off as separate listed companies. We continue to see them as very important companies for the group, for two reasons. One is, we believe that they have deep potential, and we'll get to SUNeVision in a moment. Data centers is a critical sector, as mentioned by the 14th Five-Year Plan, and SUNeVision is actually in a very good position to capture a lot of the growth because it's already one of the leading, if not the leading data center operator in Asia. SmarTone, we also believe that it has a very good potential for the group, and we have recently built a world-class 5G network which will bring substantial benefits to consumers and enterprises. Recently, as the chairman said, we actually built and launched the first 5G lab in Hong Kong.
If you have not been, go there and you'll understand why we believe that is important. I think one final point on this is that we think that these businesses are important not just from a revenue or a net income point of view to the group, but they're important because they're strategic. Both of these businesses are a window for the group to build expertise in technology. I can proudly say that all major new economy companies, U.S., China, what have you, are either a customer or partner of SUNeVision or SmarTone. This is very important for us to understand how to adopt technology. Those companies are already helping the group to digitize and transform itself. Again, if you go to the 5G lab, you understand what we're doing and how technology can actually help it.
We think that these companies are very integrated strategically with the group. On the point about data center business and growth, I'll be brief because I'll leave it to the management of data center, SUNeVision, to talk about it. We will not rule out any potential growth opportunities because we believe in the sector. We believe it will grow. At the same time, we also very clearly understand our strengths. Our strength is that we provide superior quality. We have also a superior customer base, and these are the reasons why our customers continue to grow with us. We will actually follow our customers' footsteps, and so far it has been a very successful formula. Whether we will go to property management, we really will have to monitor and see whether that is actually a heavy demand from our customers.
As it stands, many of the things we are doing, clearly we see major growth. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Okay. I'd like to add that I think for our group, of course, I think we take pride in our hard work and teamwork. Also in addition, we need innovation to update our business all the time, including the property business. We believe SUNeVision and SmarTone is a good window for us to understand technology, not just in the West, but also from the Mainland. Therefore, I think given our asset base now, it's important for us to understand more about, through technology, to understand about the future world. Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Kwok. As this is the final question, this concludes our briefing session today. Thank you very much for joining us today. We appreciate your time, and we look forward to speaking to you soon.