REAL estate group Ho Bee Land : H13 -0.5% posted a net loss of S$155.7 million for the six months ended Jun 30, 2023, from a net profit of S$149.9 million over the same period a year earlier.

 

Revenue fell 12.8 per cent to S$155.5 million over the same period, from S$178.3 million the year before. Loss per share for the period came in at S$0.2345, from earnings per share of S$0.2257 a year earlier.

 

In a bourse filing on Thursday (Aug 10), Ho Bee Land said this was mostly due to the unrealised fair-value loss of S$208.3 million it recorded for the group&rsquo s London portfolio, as well as higher interest costs.

 

It noted that the capitalisation rates used for valuation calculations of the London properties had risen to between 4.7 per cent and 8.5 per cent as at Jun 30, from rates of between 4.2 per cent and 7.7 per cent which were adopted as at Dec 31, 2022.

 

Interest costs also rose to S$76.3 million in the first half of this year, from S$33.2 million over the same period a year ago.

 

Still, the group noted that it generated net positive operating cash flow of S$77.4 million for the half-year period.

 

Ho Bee Land chief executive Nicholas Chua said he expects market conditions to remain challenging as rising interest rates and declines in portfolio valuations impact the company negatively.

 

Nevertheless, he said the group&rsquo s diversified investment and development portfolio should help it counter these headwinds.

 

For instance, Chua said the group is on track to complete its biomedical development, Elementum, at one-north, in the last quarter of this year. It is about 90 per cent pre-committed and is expected to contribute to the group&rsquo s revenue in FY24.

PROFIT GUIDANCE ON THE UNAUDITED FINANCIAL RESULTS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2023
 

The Board of Directors (the &ldquo Board&rdquo ) of Ho Bee Land Limited (the &ldquo Company&rdquo and together 

with its subsidiaries, the &ldquo Group&rdquo ) wishes to inform shareholders of the Company that, based 

on the preliminary figures for the Group&rsquo s unaudited financial results for the six months 

ended 30 June 2023 (&ldquo 1H2023&rdquo ), the Group expects to report an overall net loss for 1H2023.

The losses are attributable mainly to fair value loss based on indicative valuations of the 

Group&rsquo s portfolio of investment properties in London.

The fair value loss on the London portfolio is non-cash in nature and arose mainly due to 

higher capitalisation rates. 

Further details of the Group&rsquo s financial performance will be disclosed when the Company 

announces its unaudited 1H2023 financial results via SGXNET on or before 10 August 2023.

Shareholders and investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of 

the Company. Persons who are in doubt as to the action they should take should consult 

their stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other professional advisors.

By Order of the Board

Nicholas Chua

Executive Director 

Chief Executive Officer

14 July 2023

July 10, 2023 at 7:54 PM GMT+8Updated onJuly 11, 2023 at 10:09 AM GMT+8

 

The Singapore Exchange S68 -0.73% Regulation (SGX RegCo) has issued a query to Ho Bee Land H13 12.14% after noting &ldquo unusual price movements&rdquo in the latter&rsquo s shares on June 19.

 

At around 2.34pm, shares in Ho Bee Land surged to $2.415, 35.5 cents or 17.2% higher than its last-closed price of $2.06 on June 18. Shares in the company then climbed slightly higher, reaching an intra-day high at $2.42 before hovering around $2.30 to $2.33.

 

In its query, SGX RegCo asked Ho Bee Land if it was aware of any information that could&rsquo ve brought about the share price hike. It also asked Ho Bee Land to confirm that it was in compliance with the listing rules.

 

Ho Bee Land has issued an update after market hours to say that it is not aware of any information that has caused the unusual hike in its share price.