Mar. 8, 2007 (China Knowledge) – Hong Kong development giant Sun Hung Kai Properties <16> posted a 13% dip in profits for its fiscal first half.

The company said yesterday that its underlying profit in the six months ended Dec. 31 was HK$5.3 billion, down from HK$6.08 billion a year earlier.

Underlying profit is often used as a gauge of developers' profitability because of the difficulty in estimating gains or losses from the revaluation of investment properties. The revaluation of investment properties is included in the net profit figure.

Net profit for the company in the fiscal first-half fell 19.2% year-on-year to HK$10.91 billion due to lower property sales. The decline reflects a smaller gain from the revaluation of the company's investment properties.

The company has been investing HK$10.6 billion in replenishing its land bank in Hong Kong over the past eight months, vice chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong said. He also said the company will continue to acquire land in Hong Kong through various means.

Kwok said he 'remains bullish about the property market outlook' as he expects housing prices to rise while supply of housing units is expected to grow at a moderate pace.

Revenue rose to HK$14.78 billion from HK$14.47 billion. The company has proposed a first-half dividend of HK$0.70, unchanged from the year before.