CK Asset Holdings Ltd (長江實業), the developer founded by billionaire Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), postponed a planned sale of condominiums in Hong Kong as political protests made it difficult to market the luxury residences.
The homes at 21 Borrett Road would not be offered for sale as scheduled this month, a spokeswoman for the company said yesterday, confirming an earlier report on RTHK radio.
Marketing a luxury project would be difficult under the social atmosphere and there is no fixed schedule for the sale, CK Asset executive director Justin Chiu (趙國雄) told the station.
The apartments would cost at least HK$100 million (US$12.75 million) each, Chiu told RTHK.
That means CK Asset could generate HK$11.5 billion just for the 115 units in the project’s first phase, scheduled to be completed next month. There are 66 units in the second phase.
CK Asset’s decision adds to signs of economic stress in the territory more than two months after protests started against a proposed extradition bill.
Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd (新鴻基地產) has said that it would delay the sale of its residential project in Kowloon District as consumer sentiment was worsening on the social unrest, the South China Morning Post reported this week.
Images of riot police clashing with protesters at Hong Kong International Airport further dented the territory’s reputation as a stable place to do business during the 11th week of protests.
The escalating stakes have raised fears that China would mobilize forces to restore order, a move that could scare away foreign companies and further erode the financial hub’s autonomy.
The Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong on Thursday last week in a statement condemned the violence and called for peace.
Another appeal published in Chinese-language newspapers was issued on Saturday last week, with cosigners including billionaire Henry Cheng (鄭家純) of New World Development Co (新世界發展).
CK Asset chairman Victor Li (李澤鉅) earlier this month said that the demonstrations were causing potential property buyers to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) shares surged to a seven-month high this week after local media reported that E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) had outbid CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in the financially strained insurer’s ongoing sale process. Shares of the mid-sized life insurer climbed 5.8 percent this week to NT$6.72, extending a nearly 18 percent rally over the past month, as investors bet on the likelihood of an impending takeover. The final round of bidding closed on Thursday, marking a critical step in the 32-year-old insurer’s search for a buyer after years of struggling to meet capital adequacy requirements. Local media reports
AI BOOST: Although Taiwan’s reliance on Chinese rare earth elements is limited, it could face indirect impacts from supply issues and price volatility, an economist said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has sharply raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 5.6 percent, citing stronger-than-expected exports and investment linked to artificial intelligence (AI), as it said that the current momentum could peak soon. The acceleration of the global AI race has fueled a surge in Taiwan’s AI-related capital spending and exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products, which have been key drivers of growth this year. “We have revised our GDP forecast for Taiwan upward to 5.6 percent from 4 percent, an upgrade that mainly reflects stronger-than-expected AI-related exports and investment in the third
TECHNOLOGICAL RIVALRY: The artificial intelligence chip competition among multiple players would likely intensify over the next two years, a Quanta official said Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which makes servers and laptops on a contract basis, yesterday said its shipments of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s GB300 chips have increased steadily since last month, should surpass those of the GB200 models this quarter. The production of GB300 servers has gone much more smoothly than that of the GB200, with shipments projected to increase sharply next month, Quanta executive vice president Mike Yang (楊麒令) said on the sidelines of a technology forum in Taipei. While orders for GB200 servers gradually decrease, the production transition between the two server models has been
ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing supplier, yesterday announced a strategic collaboration with Analog Devices Inc (ADI), coupled with the signing of a binding memorandum of understanding. Under the agreement, ASE intends to purchase 100 percent shares of Analog Devices Sdn Bhd and acquire its manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, a press release showed. The ADI Penang facility is located in the prime industrial hub of Bayan Lepas, with an area of over 680,000 square feet, it said. In addition, the two sides intend to enter into a long-term supply agreement for ASE to
RSS