Country Garden heiress' passport raises eyebrows

Country Garden (2007) founder Yang Guoqiang's daughter Yang Huiyan is reported to have obtained a Cypriot passport. The news came as the mainland developer reported its net profit in the first half fell 9.6 percent to 14.13 billion yuan (HK$15.84 billion).

The billionaire businesswoman obtained the passport in October 2018, reported Al Jazeera, a state-owned broadcaster in Doha, Qatar, according to leaked immigration documents.

The news agency said Yang's information was disclosed as she or her family was regarded as a politically exposed person - namely, her father, who is a member of the Chinese legislature and political consultative committees.

The developer's core profit for the first six months this year, excluding effects from fair value changes and other items, also slid 8.6 percent to 14.61 billion yuan. Basic earnings per share were 63 fen and the company declared an interim dividend of 20.55 fen.

Cheng Guangyu, Country Garden's vice president, said the company's accumulative sales from January to July have returned to nearly the same level a year ago, and expects total sales in the first eight months this year would exceed the year-before number.

In other news, Shanghai-based Shimao Group (0813) said its net profit from core business rose 4.7 percent from a year ago to around 5.56 billion yuan in the first six months this year with revenue growing 14.1 percent to 64.55 billion yuan. The developer declared an interim dividend of 60 HK cents per share, as well as a special dividend of 10 HK cents per share.

Elsewhere, China Jinmao's (0817) interim net profit rose 1.73 percent year-on-year to 3.77 billion yuan but the revenue fell 18 percent to 12.1 billion yuan. An interim dividend of 12 HK cents was declared.