New World's fast-revolving hot seat

It is shocking that New World Development has named another chief executive officer just two months after appointing Eric Ma Siu-cheung.

Guangzhou-born Echo Huang Shaomei is now the developer's CEO, with the change coming with immediate effect.

Who would have anticipated that Ma - a former senior government official - would have remained in the job for only two months when the family's patriarch Henry Cheng Kar-shun hand picked him in September to replace his son, Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, as CEO.

It is anyone's guess why New World has had another CEO change so soon as Henry Cheng must have weighed things carefully before eyeing Ma for the top job.

The company's stock exchange filing said Ma quit in order to pursue personal commitments.

By coincidence or not, this occurred shortly after he went to Shenzhen to meet with Hong Kong and Macao Work Office director Xia Baolong on behalf of New World as the Beijing official traveled south to meet with business leaders from Hong Kong.

Although other rich families were represented by family members, it was not inappropriate that Ma attended the Shenzhen meeting as a representative of the Cheng clan since he was New World's CEO.

Any imaginative minds could come up with a number of hypotheses over the change.

Not much is known about Huang, the new CEO, except that she has been with New World for 20 years, focusing on China property in addition to her role as a CPPCC standing committee member of Guangdong province.

It was reported that when Adrian Cheng was CEO, Huang had shared with mainland media her high opinion of him for showing a passion to include humanistic and artistic elements in the group's property projects.

In hindsight, Ma's abrupt exit may have been signaled last week when he was not part of the Greater Bay Area delegation led by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in which New World was represented by a young member of the Cheng family.

Last week's high-profile visits to the Greater Bay Area and sites for future hubs of the Northern Metropolis culminated in the climax of dozens of company groups signing a letter of intent expressing a commitment to the metropolis development.

New World is known to be loaded with a high level of debt and Henry Cheng had indicated at the general meeting that activities requiring cash commitment would not be considered.

In wake of the frequent change in the top executive post, investors should be excused for watching the development with a sense of skepticism.

Investors are concerned about whether the new CEO can prop up New World's share price, which last traded at HK$6.43, compared to its historical high of above HK$100 in November 2007. In December 2023, its share price was in the HK$11 region.

New World is based in Hong Kong and has also been active in the mainland - and the property sectors in both are struggling with strong headwinds.

The patriarch explained that a review of the development direction showed that "timely phased changes need to be made, and the role of the CEO also requires to be adjusted".

Would two months be too short to be timely?