Beijing-based developer Soho China would resume its plans to list on Hong Kong s main board next year depending on the stability of the capital s property market, chairman Pan Shiyi said yesterday.
The company does not have a specific timetable for the listing as the Beijing property market would probable continue to fluctuate next year, Pan said.
The Central Government has been tackling the problem of illegal land grabs.
The cleaning up of illegal activities will cause fluctuations in market sentiment, Pan said.
Soho China has delayed its planned US$100 million (HK$780 million) initial public offering since 2002, canceling both its Hong Kong and New York listing plans earlier this year due to the Sars outbreak.
Last year, it pocketed more than 2.7 billion yuan (HK$2.53 billion) from sales of its latest mixed development, Jianwai Soho, located in Beijing s commercial business center.
Pan said sales of the project dropped to 200 million yuan in the second quarter this year, affected by Sars, but then rebounded to 1.3 billion yuan in the third quarter. He expected total sales of Jianwai Soho this year could reach 3.3 billion yuan.
The company s other three projects in the mainland include the two completed residential projects, Soho New Town in Beijing and Boao Canal Village on the resort island of Hainan, and the ongoing high-profile hotel project Commune By The Great Wall in Beijing.
Without maintaining a land bank, Soho China would focus on Beijing s property market, Pan said, adding that the company had scrapped plans to step into Shanghai as the market had overheated.
The developer has teamed with local real estate agency Centaline Property Agency to launch 20 Jianwai Soho flats, ranging in size from 90 to 200 square meters, for Hong Kong buyers. Asking prices average HK$13,500 per square meter.
