Hong Kong private home prices fell 6.8 percent in 2023

The ongoing slide in Hong Kong’s housing market leads Mingtiandi’s roundup of headlines from around the region, with official figures for 2023 showing a 6.8 percent decline in prices. Also in the news, Blackstone has hired a Washington, DC veteran as vice chairman and CapitaLand’s China REIT sees payouts drop.

Hong Kong Home Prices Dropped 6.8% in 2023, Outlook Still Weak

Hong Kong private home prices fell 6.8 percent in 2023 after declining for the eighth consecutive month in December, dragged down by fragile market sentiment, high interest rates and a weak economic outlook.

Home prices in one of the world’s most expensive property markets dropped 1.4 percent in December from the previous month, official data showed Monday, following a revised 1.9 percent fall in November. Read more>>

Blackstone Hires Ex-Diplomat Nides as Firm’s Influence Grows

Blackstone is hiring Washington and Wall Street power broker Thomas Nides, bringing on the former diplomat as the firm navigates its growing reach as a $1 trillion powerhouse.

Nides, 62, will be vice chairman for strategy and client relations, Blackstone said Monday. He’s a former longtime top executive at Morgan Stanley, deputy secretary of state and ambassador to Israel. Read more>>

CapitaLand China Trust Distributions Fell 12% in 2023 2H

CapitaLand China Trust on Tuesday posted an 11.8 per cent decline in distribution per unit (DPU) to S$0.03 for the second half ended Dec 31, 2023, from S$0.034 in the same period the previous year.

This was due to a slightly enlarged unit base owing to management fees, and its distribution reinvestment plan, which was turned on for the 2022 and 2023 financial years. There was also an absence of a one-off distribution paid out in the same period last year. In H2 2022, the manager released S$3.6 million in distributable income – which was retained in H1 of that same year – to unitholders. Read more>>

CDL Hospitality Trust Distributions Slide 11% on Higher Borrowing Costs

CDL Hospitality Trusts total distribution per stapled security for the second half ended 31 December 2023 was down 11.1 percent to S$0.0319 ($0.027) from S$0.0359.

Total distribution to stapled security holders was down 10.7 percent year on year to S$39.8 million from S$44.5 million previously. Read more>>

Shanghai Businessman Richard Yan Hunted by New Zealand Liquidators

Liquidators of collapsed Auckland-based construction company Mainzeal are pursuing Shanghai businessman Richard Yan, holding him liable for more than $60 million owed to the company’s creditors, in a case that has implications for Chinese businesses operating in New Zealand.

Andrew McKay, a partner with business advisory firm BDO Auckland, which is responsible for winding up the construction company, told the South China Morning Post on Monday that advertisements would be placed in newspapers in Hong Kong and mainland China this week after liquidators were authorised to serve notice on the Chinese businessman. Read more>>

Sino-Ocean Said to Tell Offshore Creditors to Wait in Line

Chinese developer Sino-Ocean Group Holding Ltd. told a key group of its dollar bond creditors that it will prioritize repaying its local debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

The state-linked distressed builder didn’t present a restructuring plan for its offshore debt at its first so-called principal-to-principal meeting with the ad-hoc creditor group earlier this month, said the people who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Read more>>

China Aoyuan Offshore Debt Restructuring Set in Motion

China Aoyuan announced Monday that it late last week had begun implementing a plan agreed to with creditors for restructuring the Guangzhou-based developer’s offshore debt.

After Aoyuan’s plan was approved by a Hong Kong court on 12 January, the developer has now moved a step closer to a “holistic restructuring” of its $6 billion in dollar-denominated debt. Read more>>

Singapore Authorities Query EC World REIT Manager Over Illegal Mortgages

The Securities Investors Association (Singapore) has sent a list of questions to the manager of EC World REIT about the illegal mortgages entered into by its sponsor, Forchn Holdings.

Three properties of EC World REIT were mortgaged illegally by its sponsor to entities linked to the Fuyang government in China in a bid to raise rescue funds. Of the three mortgages, the one for Hengde Logistics was discharged on 18 January; the Fuzhou E-commerce Warehouse and Fu Heng Warehouse remain under mortgage. Read more>>

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