SHKP, Hong Kong’s bellwether developer, posts 36% jump in first-half net profit

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), Hong Kong’s largest developer by market capitalisation, reported a 36.2 per cent year-on-year jump in first-half net profit to HK$10.25 billion (US$1.3 billion).Revenue rose 32 per cent to HK$52.7 billion for the six months ended December from a year earlier, while operating income increased 10.7 per cent to HK$13.4 billion, the developer said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. Underlying profit, which discounts property revaluations, gained 17 per cent to HK$12.2 billion.The revenue, however, missed analysts’ estimates of HK$53.4 billion, while operating income beat forecasts of HK$12.82 billion, according to Bloomberg data.Hong Kong accounted for HK$46.4 billion of the company’s revenue, followed by the mainland with HK$6.25 billion and other locations with HK$1 million.SHKP’s results are typically viewed as a bellwether of the city’s property market, given its extensive project pipeline and the scale of developments slated for completion in the coming years.Chairman and managing director Raymond Kwok Ping-luen highlighted rising uncertainties brought about by geopolitical risks as well as the rapid development of artificial intelligence and robotics, noting that they were likely to lead the “global economy into uncharted waters”.