Shop King in hot water over debt of $265m

Pine Active Care, which holds a 14.99 percent stake in elderly care home operator Pine Care (1989), filed a charge against retail magnate Tang Shing-bor and his family members over an outstanding debt of HK$265 million.

Tang Shing-bor - who is known in Hong Kong as the "Shop King" - and his son Tang Yiu-sing agreed to acquire 469 million shares of Pine Care for HK$773 million in February last year. Pine Active Care agreed that Tang Shing-bor and Tang Yiu-sing could repay by installments over 18 months.

Pine Active Care also agreed to lend HK$500 million to Tang Yiu-sing, who agreed to repay principal and interest in September. However, Tang Yiu-sing failed to repay on time.

Pine Active Care had asked Tang Yiu-sing to repay the outstanding amount of HK$180 million in October and no longer allowed them to pay by installments.

In the retail market, Savills said both prime street shop rents and base rents of major shopping centers fell by 5.9 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter last year amid a sluggish leasing market.

Savills also forecasts that rents will continue to drop by 2 to 5 percent in 2021, before a rebound of 5 to 10 percent in 2022.

"While rents may continue to slip over the first half of this year, we can see some activity returning after Chinese New Year with a market turnaround likely in 2022," said Simon Smith, senior director of research & consultancy at Savills Hong Kong.

Shopping center landlords are now reconciled to market conditions and becoming more flexible in both asking for rents and lease terms, Savills said.