HONG KONG (SCMP): Chen Zhuolin, the chairman of distressed mainland Chinese developer Agile Group, has sold all nine units he owned in a Hong Kong luxury residential project at less than half the original investment six years ago.
The 62-year-old tycoon sold the units in Hamburg Villa on Eastbourne Road in Kowloon Tong, which were valued at HK$213 million (US$27.3 million), earlier this month, according to an agent from Centaline Property.
The flats were sold at discounts between 53 per cent and 63 per cent.
Chen was only able to recover about HK$90 million, an aggregate discount of 58 per cent, according to agents and Land Registry records.
One of the properties, a 872 sq ft three-bedroom unit, fetched HK$8 million on November 1, according to official records. Based on the purchase price of HK$21.4 million in 2018, the flat was sold at a 63 per cent discount.
The fire sales show the slump in China’s property market over the past four years has eroded the personal fortunes of local and mainland real estate tycoons, such as Hui Ka-yan, the founder of China Evergrande Group. Other high-profile casualties include the family of Ho Shung-pun and the family of late shop king Tang Shing-bor.
Chen and his wife Luk Sin Fong, through a family trust, control 58 per cent of Agile, whose shares have slumped more than 90 per cent over the past five years.
Individuals linked to Agile have borrowed against more than one Hong Kong property. Luk, Agile’s former vice-chair, had taken an undisclosed amount of loans, using her luxury residence in Repulse Bay as collateral, an industry source said in February. She had been shopping for a HK$500 million loan, the source said.
Agile separately owns some real estate in Kowloon, according to its annual report. The company has an 82 per cent share of the 6 Eastbourne Road site, and a 23 per cent share of the land parcel on 8-10 Eastbourne Road.
Agile paid about HK$3.3 billion for the two adjacent sites in 2017 and 2022, according to Savills, which brokered the deals.
The annual report also listed projects on King’s Road and Mount Parker Road in Quarry Bay among the company’s assets, which have since been put up for sale by receivers.
Like many of its peers, the Guangzhou-based developer has struggled with liquidity. It failed to pay interest on a US$483 million bond maturing in 2025 in May. The firm was also seeking to refinance a HK$894 million loan facility, using the Quarry Bay asset as collateral, sources have previously said.
Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices dropped by 1.7 per cent in September, taking the 12-month decline to 12.5 per cent – the lowest since August 2016. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
