Shanghai Forte Land Co (
Shanghai Forte is bidding to lure investors with a focus on China's emerging middle class, whose average income almost doubled in five years. The company wants to raise HK$1.2 billion (US$153 million) and will set the price for its shares tomorrow.
The sale is a test of investor appetite for the Chinese real estate market, where price rises of as much as 25 percent in two years prompted the government to tighten mortgage approvals to prevent a possible bubble.
"A successful sale for Shanghai Forte helps future sales by Soho and others," said David Chapman, who helps manage US$650 million in global shares at Towry Law Asia Ltd. "A failed sale slams the door shut."
Shanghai Forte is offering to distribute half its profit as dividends and may price its shares at 8.5 times forecast 2003 earnings, cheaper than the price planned by Soho.
Soho delayed an initial share sale last year after its banker, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, and other banks disagreed over forecasts that the Beijing-based developer would quadruple earnings to meet its 2003 profit forecast, bankers involved said in October.
Shanghai Forte is focusing on Shanghai, which Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (
The company as of December owned stakes in 36 developments in Shanghai, totaling 2.1 million square meters, and plans to develop eight more projects in the city, encompassing 1.71 million square meters of floor space. It plans to more than double its property portfolio in Shanghai, Beijing and central Wuhan to 4.4 million square meters of gross floor area, share sale documents show.
Demand for privately owned housing in China tripled since 1998, according to DTZ Debenham, after the government said it was no longer necessary for state-owned companies to provide their workers with housing.
The growth rate has sparked concern in Beijing. In October, Zhu instructed commercial banks to tighten controls over mortgages in a bid to cool a market that was showing signs of oversupply and falling prices.
Last week, the government said it will freeze approvals for construction of luxury homes and tighten supervision to slow the building of expensive housing.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
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