Cheuk Nang expects approval for Coloane project by year-end

Cheuk Nang Holdings Limited, the company chaired by billionaire Cecil Chao Sze Tsung, is expecting the government to define the conditions for the company to start developing a plot of land in Coloane by the end of the year.
‘It is anticipated that the Macau Government will issue a new Urban Condition Plan (PCU) by the end of 2015. Based on the conditions of the new PCU, the architect will revise the plans and re-submit a new set of preliminary project [plans] and new air ventilation report for approval’, the company said in the results for the first six months of the year.
The Urban Condition Plan is a document issued by the public works department that determines a project’s construction area, height cap and plot ratio.
Cheuk Nang holds a plot of land in Seac Pai Van road with an area of 9,044 square metres (97,361 square feet), where it planned to develop a project previously called Golden Cotai No. 1. The gross floor area of the project is planned to occupy 1.6 million square feet and comprise 5 blocks of multi-storey buildings. This property would also provide 1,147 residential units, one hotel, a large shopping mall and car parking spaces, according to the information released in the results for the first half of the year.
Net profits sink 39 per cent
Concerning the results of the first half, the company’s net profit decreased 39 per cent to HK$241.02 million (US$31 million) from HK$395.23 million. This decrease was primarily driven by changes in the fair value of the investment properties that dropped to HK$282.92 million from HK$404.20 million, a decrease of 30 per cent year-on-year.
While the enterprise operates in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Macau and Malaysia, the first two markets are the most important for the property company. However for the second half of the year and the coming years, Cheuk Nang is expecting trouble in Hong and relying on expansion in Mainland China.
“Looking at the recent market condition in Mainland China and Hong Kong and the devaluation of the renminbi, it is anticipated that the property market in Hong Kong will fluctuate more in the second half of the year.
The growth of the group will be supported by the sale of properties in Shenzhen and Hangzhou in the coming years’, the company noted in its financial results.
According to the document, the directors of the company also propose paying a dividend of HK$13.5 per share for the whole year, which will be paid on 30 December 2015. This dividend is still pending the approval of shareholders at their annual general meeting.