HONG KONG: Hopewell Holdings Ltd, the Hong Kong-based property company controlled by Gordon Wu, said it is "little affected" by Beijing's tightening measures to curb gains in the real estate market.

"We have only a small exposure to the mainland property market," said Thomas Wu, co-managing director of the company and the son of Gordon. "Hopewell mainly invests in infrastructure projects on the mainland and it is a development area encouraged by the Chinese government over the years."

The mainland's property market rebounded and the economy expanded 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter as Beijing injected 4 trillion yuan ($585.9 billion) to stimulate growth last year.

However, Beijing last month raised the amount of money banks are required to keep as reserves and raised the sales tax on homes to crack down on speculation in the housing market.

Hopewell Highway Infrastructure Ltd, 70.3 percent owned by Hopewell Holdings, operates the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Superhighway and toll roads on the mainland.

Hopewell Holding is developing its first mainland residential and commercial project in the city of Guangzhou, in Guangdong province neighboring Hong Kong. The project will be completed by June 2011 and could generate sales of about 6 billion to 9 billion yuan ($878.9 million to $1.32 billion), Thomas Wu told reporters.

Hopewell Holdings reported yesterday net profit in the six months ended December 31 jumped to HK$2.52 billion from HK$931 million a year earlier.

The group's treasury income and proportionate share of revenue was HK$2,069 billion, which was 35 percent higher than the HK$1,530 billion recorded in the last corresponding period. The growth was mainly attributed to the commencement of operation of the two units of Heyuan power plant, a JCE of the Group, in January and August 2009 respectively. The sale of Phase 2 of Hopewell New Town in Huadu, the PRC in late 2009 was another source of growth in turnover of property development division.

The group's attributable share of turnover of JCEs engaging in toll expressway business continued to record growth over the last corresponding period. However, the growth in turnover was partially offset by the decrease in the group's treasury income as a result of the declines in market interest rates, and the reduced room revenue of the hospitality division.

China Daily/Bloomberg News

(HK Edition 02/05/2010 page3)