Wharf Holdings (0004) said the mainland's property market remains challenging, even though its underlying net profit for the first half of this year surged 323 percent yearly to HK$1.81 billion.
It maintained the interim dividend of 20 HK cents.
The jump in underlying net profit, excluding property revaluation gains, was mainly due to the lower provision of HK$1.03 billion on mainland development properties, versus HK$2.54 billion a year ago. Thus, the net interim profit skyrocketed 11 times to HK$696 million.
Wharf said 2023 is another year full of challenges, as its businesses in both the mainland and Hong Kong might be affected by geopolitical tensions, currency instability and economic slowdowns.
Stephen Ng Tin-hoi, chairman and managing director of Wharf, said it is hard to tell whether it will need to raise provisions.
However, Ng said the mainland's hotel industry performance was a surprise, after some projects posted record revenues and operating profits in the first half.
Wharf will open a new hotel with 286 rooms in the next quarter in Changsha, a popular tourist destination and the capital city of Hunan province.
