HK's mall operator Wharf REIC sinks to all-time low on weak earnings

Wharf Real Estate Investment

06/03/2020 02:57

** Shares of shopping mall and hotel operator Wharf Real
Estate Investment Co Ltd  1997.HK  fall as much as 5.3% to
HK$34.60, their lowest since listing in November 2017
    ** Stock is the biggest percentage decliner among the 50
constituent stocks on the benchmark Hang Seng Index  .HSI  
    ** Stock later trims loss to HK$35.15, still down 3.8%
    ** Co says its profit attributable to equity shareholders
for year ended 2019, including an investment property
revaluation deficit, plunged 78% to HK$3.93 bln  ($505.5 mln)
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2AX0QV
    ** Says virus outbreak has steepened the drop in retail
demand and Q1 2020 performance would be noticeably affected by
rent relief measures with the world likely be preoccupied with
the virus outbreak in the current quarter and next
    ** Co says local social political events and tension between
China and U.S. are added factors influencing Hong Kong's
recessionary trend
    ** Says retail and hotel sectors are not expected to be
spared from the brunt of these threats, while office occupancy
rates and rental levels are under more pressure amid slowdown
    ** Stock is down 23.1% so far this year, as of last close
    ** Wharf Real Estate Investment has underperformed the Hang
Seng Property Index sector  .HSNP  by 10.9 percentage points in
the past one month
    ** The Hong Kong Hang Seng sub-index tracking property firms
 .HSNP  drops 2.1%, and the benchmark index  .HSI  falls 2.01%


($1 = 7.7738 Hong Kong dollars)

 (Reuters Messaging: donny.kwok.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)