London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Hong Kong Crisis Deals $7.7 Billion Blow to Property Tycoons

Hong Kong Crisis Deals $7.7 Billion Blow to Property Tycoons

After months of protests and Covid-19 restrictions, Hong Kong’s biggest property tycoons are feeling the pinch.

At Peter Woo’s Wharf Real Estate Investment Co., retail rental income plunged by almost a third in the first half of the year, leading to a loss and a HK$7.4 billion ($955 million) hit to its portfolio. Revenue from Hong Kong property sales at Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset Holdings Ltd. slumped by more than 60%. The Kwoks’s Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. slashed rents for some tenants, while the biggest landlord in the Central district said its vacancy rate rose to 5% at the end of June from 2.9% in December.

With Covid-19 preventing tourists from coming and the national security law threatening Hong Kong’s status as a financial hub, the fortune that property moguls have amassed is suddenly shrinking. To make matters worse for them, the city’s financial secretary urged landlords to offer tenants concessions on rents — some of the world’s highest — to ride out a crisis that a resurgence of coronavirus cases is now taking to unchartered territory.


While seven of Hong Kong’s real estate tycoons still sit atop $107 billion combined, the impact of the recent events is clear: They’ve lost $7.7 billion this year as their properties got hit by the double whammy of political unrest and a virus outbreak that no one could have predicted. An index tracking the city’s developers has plunged 21%, more than any other industry group.

Wheelock & Co., which controls Wharf REIC, CK Asset, Sun Hung Kai, Henderson Land Development Co. and New World Development Co. didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Some developers that have yet to report their first-half earnings have warned about potentially disappointing results. One of them is Merlin Swire’s Swire Properties Ltd., which said in June the company will post a “substantial” profit drop and a loss of about HK$2.6 billion on the revaluation of investment properties, according to a company filing.

Overall, the city’s vacancy rate for office buildings is at the highest in more than a decade as foreign firms scale back their operations in Hong Kong. Mall traffic is down by more than a third from a year ago amid stricter social-distancing measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

But the coronavirus was only the latest blow. The malaise all started last year, when pro-democracy demonstrations erupted to contest a proposed extradition law. While the bill was later withdrawn, the protests persisted with more demands, including direct elections of the city’s leader. The national security legislation was Beijing’s response.

Taking a Hit


Top Hong Kong developers have lost a combined $7.7 billion this year



Hong Kong’s real estate tycoons have largely rallied behind the security law. A developer association representing firms including CK Asset and Lee Shau Kee’s Henderson Land said it supported it because it would guarantee stability and prosperity in the city. The families behind Swire, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. and Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. have also issued similar endorsements.

“Hong Kong’s property tycoons are subject to the state-security law as much as anyone else,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. “And since the law is implicitly a ‘you’re with us or against us’ imposition, tycoons who want to stay in Hong Kong and make money are required to declare they support the law.”

Read More: $140 Billion at Stake for H.K. Tycoons Backing Security Law

Hang Lung Properties Ltd. Chairman Ronnie Chan said the bill has brought back some stability to Hong Kong.



Ronnie Chan
Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg



“The national-security law is to restore the ‘one country, two systems’ framework, and I just don’t see any other way,” Chan said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on July 31. “Those people who were demonstrating against the Hong Kong and Beijing governments, they asked for it.”

But to some, the real estate moguls helped trigger the protests that led to the national-security law. Chinese state media have argued that Hong Kong’s expensive homes were a reason for last year’s social unrest and lambasted the tycoons for propping up property prices. That pushed developers including New World Development of the Cheng family and Henderson Land to donate land plots to charity.

Minimizing both political and economic risks could be an arduous task for the tycoons. While they strive to limit the damage, it might take some time, according to Patrick Wong, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence who expects prime-office rents to fall between 15% and 20% this year.

“Heightened political instability, and a recent increase in Covid-19 infections could threaten to cast a pall over the city’s economic growth, which may further weaken office leasing demand in major districts in the second half,” he wrote in a July 24 note.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×