Cheung Kong forecast to lead bids at government land auction

Analyst says Cheung Kong’s strategy has always been to sell a lot and buy a lot.

A Bloomberg report said, “Cheung Kong has spent more than HK$22 billion snapping up six sites in public land sales this year even as government measures to curb a more than 70 percent surge in home prices since early 2009 take effect.”

Controlled by Hong Kong’s wealthiest man, billionaire Li Ka-shing, Cheung Kong sold the most homes in Hong Kong in the first half and is seeking to replenish reserves after a pullback in home prices, said the report.

Lee Wee Liat, an analyst at Samsung Securities Ltd., was quoted as saying, “With the amount of properties they sold this year and the cash generated, you can expect them to be quite aggressive in replenishing their landbank.”

The Tseung Kwan O site is the biggest in the land sale happening on 6 September 2011 with estimates ranging from HK$3.3 billion to HK$4.4 billion. “The two other sites put up for auction, one in the Northern Yuen Long district and other in the rural Sai Kung district, may jointly sell for less than HK$360 million, according to the estimates,” added the report.

View the report here.