PROPERTY developer Hongkong Land : H78 +1.94% fell into the red for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, posting a full-year loss of US$582.3 million, from a US$202.7 million profit the year before.

 

Its underlying profit slid by 5 per cent to US$734.2 million, from US$776.1 million the previous year.

 

The group said that profits from its investment properties grew, mainly due to an improved performance by its luxury retail and Singapore office portfolios, offsetting the reduced contributions from its Hong Kong office portfolio.

 

Loss per share was 26.29 US cents, a turnaround from earnings per share of 8.99 US cents the previous year.

 

A final dividend of 16 US cents a share has been proposed, which, if approved by its shareholders, would bring the total dividend for the year to 22 US cents a share, unchanged from a year ago. The final dividend will be paid out on May 15.

 

Revenue fell by 22 per cent to US$1.8 billion in FY2023, down from US$2.2 billion the previous year.

 

The group said that its financial position &ldquo remains strong&rdquo , with a net debt of US$5.4 billion as at Dec 31, down from US$5.8 billion a year ago. Net gearing at the end of the year was 17 per cent, unchanged from the end of 2022.

 

The group&rsquo s chairman, Ben Keswick, said that he expects market conditions in the group&rsquo s core markets of Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland to remain challenging in 2024.

 

He expects the trading performance of the group&rsquo s Hong Kong Central portfolio to be lower in 2024 due to negative office rental reversions.

 

PROPERTY player Hongkong Land has appointed Michael Smith &ndash the current regional chief executive officer of Europe and the US at Mapletree Investments &ndash as its new CEO.

 

Smith will be appointed with effect from Apr 1, 2024, and will be relocating to Hong Kong for the role.

 

He succeeds Robert Wong, who has been the CEO of Hongkong Land since 2016, the company said on Tuesday (Nov 21).

 

The company noted that Smith has 30 years of experience in real estate, capital markets and investment banking.

 

Prior to joining Mapletree Investments, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs, leading the bank&rsquo s South-east Asia investment banking and Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) real estate businesses.

 

In his time at Mapletree Investments, Smith was responsible for growing the group&rsquo s new and existing businesses in Europe and the US, and was accountable for overall operating performance.

He was also responsible for monetising assets into public and private vehicles, while leading a large team of professionals across multiple jurisdictions.

 

Ben Keswick, chairman of Hongkong Land, said: &ldquo I have every confidence Michael will evolve our business&hellip while at the same time, (position) the group for long-term sustainable growth in China and other key Asian markets.&rdquo

 

He added that Wong had enhanced the group&rsquo s central portfolio in Hong Kong in his time as CEO, and continued its strategic focus to develop, grow and hold prime commercial and luxury retail properties.

 

Wong will retire from his role on Mar 31, 2024, but stay on as a senior adviser to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

 

HONGKONG Land Holdings : H78 +1.74% topped a well-tracked environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmark for the real estate sector for the first time this year, despite stiffer competition all around.

 

The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) rankings released on Tuesday (Oct 17) named the Singapore-listed diversified property group as a global sector leader among listed entities under its development benchmark.

 

This puts Hongkong Land in the same league as Castellum, touted as the Nordic region&rsquo s most sustainable property company, and Hong Kong&rsquo s Swire Properties, which had topped the benchmark at least three years in a row. 

 

Hongkong Land subsidiary MCL Land is currently developing Copen Grand, Tengah Town&rsquo s first executive condominium, and Piccadilly Grand, a mixed development off Race Course Road, alongside its partner City Developments Limited (CDL) : C09 -0.3%.

 

GRESB &ndash which is used by more than 170 institutional and financial investors to inform decision-making, including interest rate savings from sustainability-linked loans &ndash ranks entities yearly based on two benchmarks.

 

The development benchmark ranks real estate companies according to how ESG-centric their development of new construction and major renovation projects are, while the other benchmark looks at how well their standing investments are managed.

The standing investments benchmark featured Lendlease Global Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust : JYEU -1.94% (LReit) as a global sector leader for retail across listed and non-listed entities. Parkway Parade Partnership, in which LReit owns shares, also made the same list.

 

This is the fourth consecutive year LReit has emerged as Asia&rsquo s sector leader in retail.

 

The ranking also showed CapitaLand Ascott Trust : HMN 0% (Clas) retaining its top position as a global sector leader among listed entities in the hotel category for a third consecutive year.

 

The assessment results were made known to companies on Oct 2.

 

Implications on sustainability-linked loans

In an Oct 4 statement, CapitaLand Investment : 9CI +0.65% (CLI) described CapitaLand as the &ldquo first real estate company in Singapore to be consistently ranked among the top 20 per cent since 2011&rdquo .

 

CLI made the claim as it revealed that it maintained its five-star GRESB rating, which places it in the top 20 per cent of the benchmark globally. The rating is based on the entities&rsquo GRESB score and its quintile position relative to the GRESB universe. 

 

It also said this is the first year CapitaLand China Trust : AU8U -1.72% managed to get a five-star rating, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust : C38U +1.11% (CICT) maintained its five stars. CapitaLand Ascendas Reit : A17U +1.12%, Clas and CapitaLand India Trust : CY6U 0% received a four-star rating.

 

CLI, CICT and Clas&rsquo achievements on GRESB meant the three entities &ldquo will obtain interest rate savings from their existing sustainability-linked loans&rdquo , CLI stated.

 

As at Jun 30, CLI and its listed Reits and business trusts have partnered with 19 financial institutions, including HSBC, MUFG and JPMorgan Chase, to secure a total of S$14 billion in sustainable finance. They comprise sustainability-linked loans and bonds, green loans, green bonds and perpetual securities.

 

Of the lot, some S$2.8 billion were secured in the first half of this year through 11 sustainable financing instruments, of which S$1.6 billion from six sustainability-linked loans are pegged to their performance on GRESB, CLI noted. 

 

CLI&rsquo s chief sustainability officer Vinamra Srivastava said interest rate savings from its sustainability-linked loans are reinvested to fund its decarbonisation initiatives and innovations.

 

Meanwhile, CDL disclosed that the company fell back two places in Asia&rsquo s &ldquo Diversified &ndash Office/Retail&rdquo category for listed entities. It secured second place last year but took fourth place this year among 19 companies ranked under the list.

 

Its spokesperson, however, said none of the company&rsquo s sustainability-linked loans are tied to its GRESB performance, adding that the benchmark is used rather to ascertain gaps in the group&rsquo s sustainability strategy and reporting.

 

Frasers Property : TQ5 +0.63% said Frasers Property Singapore had the highest increase in scores among five-star rated entities, jumping from a 2022 score of 85 to 90 this year, earning it the title of regional sector leader in Asia&rsquo s &ldquo Diversified &ndash Office/ Residential&rdquo category for non-listed entities.

 

The group&rsquo s Frasers Property Industrial was recognised as regional sector leader for its existing assets in Australia as well, while Frasers Centrepoint Trust and Frasers Logistics and Commercial Trust maintained their five-star ratings for the third consecutive year.

 

Keppel Corporation : BN4 -0.46% said its real estate division placed second in the &ldquo Diversified &ndash Office/ Residential/Non-listed/ Core&rdquo category under the development benchmark.

 

Its chief executive Loh Chin Hua said more Keppel funds have participated in the GRESB assessment. They include Keppel Asia Macro Trends Fund IV and Keppel Education Asset Fund, which achieved a score higher than 50 per cent of the points allocated to each component, despite this being their maiden assessment year.

 

The keen participation underscores &ldquo our commitment to comprehensive disclosure, transparency and accountability to our investors, as well as the importance that we place on integrating ESG considerations into our investment strategies&rdquo , Loh added.

 

Reits that have disclosed their scores include OUE Commercial Reit : TS0U +2.17%, which achieved an improved score of 77 points to secure a three-star rating, and Cromwell European Reit : CWBU +0.78%, which scored a record-high 85 points this year to bag its four-star rating.

 

The average score for standing investments this year was 75. This benchmark rose by a point from last year, despite a 15 per cent jump in participation to cover 2,084 portfolios representing some US$7.2 trillion in gross asset value, GRESB said. 

 

The development benchmark rose by two points to 83. 

 

Drastic actions for Singapore

Last year&rsquo s assessment found that Singapore-based operational assets were on track to escalate their greenhouse gas intensity, instead of step it down, from now until 2050. None of the 12 other key countries GRESB then analysed featured this trend.

 

There was a marked improvement this year, with the collated GRESB submissions showing that Singapore assets are on track to glide from an average greenhouse gas intensity of 92.7 kilogramme per metre square of floor area (kg/m2) in 2022, to 67.8 kg/m2 by 2050.

 

But Singapore&rsquo s real estate industry still has to take far more drastic action if it wants to achieve a decarbonisation pathway that is aligned to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius.

 

With a projected carbon intensity of 67.8 kg/m2 by 2050, Singapore assets will remain the most pollutive across properties in 11 countries studied this year.

 

The carbon intensity of buildings here will have to average 2.4 kg/m2 by 2050 to set it on the 2 degrees Celsius pathway.

 

HONGKONG Land Holdings : H78 +1.74%  topped a well-tracked environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmark for the real estate sector for the first time this year, despite stiffer competition all around.

The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) rankings released on Tuesday (Oct 17) named the Singapore-listed diversified property group as a global sector leader among listed entities under its development benchmark.

This puts Hongkong Land in the same league as Castellum, touted as the Nordic region&rsquo s most sustainable property company, and Hong Kong&rsquo s Swire Properties, which had topped the benchmark at least three years in a row. 

 

SHARE REPURCHASE 

 

Please be advised of the following market repurchase by HKLH of its ordinary shares: 

 

Date of repurchase: 26th September 2023 

 

Total number of shares repurchased: 268,500 shares 

 

Highest price paid per share: US$3.47 

 

Lowest price paid per share: US$3.42 

 

Weighted average purchase price per share: US$3.4552 

 

The repurchased shares will be cancelled.   

 

&ldquo HONGKONG LAND HOLDINGS LIMITED (&lsquo HKLH&rsquo ) 

 

SHARE REPURCHASE 

 

Please be advised of the following market repurchase by HKLH of its ordinary shares: 

 

Date of repurchase: 27th September 2023 

 

Total number of shares repurchased: 667,100 shares 

 

Highest price paid per share: US$3.4717 

 

Lowest price paid per share: US$3.4712 

 

Weighted average purchase price per share: US$3.4716 

 

The repurchased shares will be cancelled.

 

&ldquo HONGKONG LAND HOLDINGS LIMITED (&lsquo HKLH&rsquo ) 

 

SHARE REPURCHASE 

 

Please be advised of the following market repurchase by HKLH of its ordinary shares: 

 

Date of repurchase: 28th September 2023 

 

Total number of shares repurchased: 727,900 shares 

 

Highest price paid per share: US$3.60 

 

Lowest price paid per share: US$3.55 

 

Weighted average purchase price per share: US$3.57 

 

The repurchased shares will be cancelled.   

 

SHARE REPURCHASE 

 

Please be advised of the following market repurchase by HKLH of its ordinary shares: 

 

Date of repurchase: 18th September 2023 

 

Total number of shares repurchased: 284,300 shares 

 

Highest price paid per share: US$3.54 

 

Lowest price paid per share: US$3.50 

 

Weighted average purchase price per share: US$3.5173 

 

The repurchased shares will be cancelled.