Corporate Strategy

Powerlong Real Estate Holdings Ltd, a Chinese mainland developer, is planning to enhance its porfolio of investment properties and property management services to increase their revenue contribution to 20 percent from the current 9 percent within the next three to five years.

Powerlong has a relatively diversified product mix and a unique business model, as only around 50 percent of its products are residential properties while the rest are commercial properties, including shopping malls, restaurants, office buildings, leisure and other recreational facilities, and hotels.

To generate a stable income flow, the company holds and manages a portfolio of commercial properties for leasing, the majority of which are shopping malls, Kenneth Hoi Wa-fong, chief executive officer at the company, told China Daily during an interview.

For the first half of 2012, Powerlong recorded rental income from investment properties of 159.8 million yuan, up 57 percent from 101.8 million yuan a year ago; the increase mainly due to a rise in attributable rental income generated by opening six new shopping malls in 2011.

During the period, the revenue generated from property management and related services was 81.3 million yuan, up 102 percent from a year earlier.

Hoi said currently its rental income and revenue contributed by property management accounted for around 10 percent of its total revenue.

"We hope that within three to five years, the revenue contribution from (all the properties it holds and manages) will increase to 20 percent from the current level," he added.

Katie Chan Chin-kiu, an analyst at Haitong International, issued a report saying that although the rental income surged during the first half of 2012, it was still below the management's expectation of a 90 percent year-on-year increase.

The company opened a new shopping mall in Henan in September this year, but Chan believes the contribution this year would be minimal as it is a common practice to offer rental concession in the initial period when a new shopping mall opens.

Haitong International expects the new shopping mall's contribution to kick in 2013 and help boost Powerlong's rental income by up to 30 percent year-on-year.

Analysts believe that with more exposure to commercial properties and mid-sized emerging cities, Powerlong is more defensive than pure residential players in the setback.

For the first 11 months of 2012, Powerlong recorded contract sales of 5.64 billion yuan, an 8 percent increase from the same period a year ago, and they already account for 94 percent of its full year's target of 6 billion yuan.

Hoi said there should be "no problem" in achieving its sales target for the year. But he admitted that the company had offered "a little bit" of discount on its average selling price (ASP), due to the government measures that aimed to curb the price surge in the real-estate market.

According to Hitong International's research report, during the first half of 2012, Powerlong's recognized ASP fell by 4.7 percent from a year ago to 6,608 yuan per square meter; the decrease was mainly due to the residential projects' drop in ASP.

Meanwhile, the company's gross margin dropped 2.51 percentage points during the first half to 40.8 percent, a record low since it IPO in 2009. Hoi said that the company is comfortable with a gross margin of around 40 percent, and he believes its full-year gross profit ratio will be maintained at a similar level.

Hoi said that he expects the government measures to curb the huge price hikes in the real-estate industry will be maintained in the medium term.

"Although I can't say that I'm supporting the home-purchase restrictions and limited mortgage loans, I have to say that the real-estate industry is healthier now than it was before, thanks to the measures."

He said after the government implemented the cooling measures, Powerlong's strategy also has turned to conservative and prudent; focusing on regional distribution, to make the most out of limited resources.

Hoi said that since the central government started to tighten the property market as an increasing number of residential developers had entered the commercial property business, he stressed that Powerlong is not concerned over the competition, as it has advanced experiences in commercial properties which is a huge advantage.

"I am not so optimistic about those small developers that just entered into the commercial property industry, as the business model is totally different and it is not easy to hold and manage investment properties."

sophiehe@chinadailyhk.com

One of Powerlong's development projects on the mainland. Provided to China Daily

(HK Edition 01/04/2013 page2)