Hsin Chong

Hsin Chong Group Holdings Limited (新昌營造集團有限公司; SEHK: 404) or simply Hsin Chong (新昌) is a major construction company in Hong Kong.

Hsin Chong
Industry
  • Construction
  • Property development
  • Real estate
Founded1939 (1939) in Hong Kong
FounderGodfrey Yeh Kan-Nee
Headquarters
Hong Kong
Websitehsinchong.com

History

It was established in 1939 in Hong Kong as Hsin Chong & Company by Godfrey Yeh Kan-Nee. Yeh was a well-established builder in Shanghai before moving to Hong Kong in 1937. His son Geoffrey Yeh Meou-Tsen worked with him from 1955. The company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1991.

In the late 1990s, Hsin Chong was involved in a scandal over short-piling. As a result, the company was banned from bidding for government contracts between 1999 and 2002.[1]

Recent developments

Chinese billionaire Lin Zhou Yan has taken over control of the company from the Yeh family. In recent years, the company has diversified into mainland China property development.[2] In May 2014, Hsin Chong Construction Limited agreed to pay HK$10.625 billion for properties in Sanshui city.[3]

Anonymous Analytics reported in September 2016 that Lin uses Hsin Chong as a "personal dumping ground" for loss-making development properties.[4][2] Hsin Chong has also been accused of acquiring properties at inflated prices.[5] The company's Hong Kong business is profitable, but the firm recorded a loss of HK$2.7 billion in 2016 due largely to a HK$4.4 billion loss on mainland property investments. Its shares suspended trading in April 2017.[2] In early 2017 it was reported that the company owed HK$500 million to subcontractors in Hong Kong, and the situation had led to delays at various construction projects including the M+ Museum.[4]

Hsin Chong's HK$5.9 billion contract with the Hong Kong Government's West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) for construction of the M+ Museum was terminated on 17 August 2018 on grounds of Hsin Chong's insolvency and poor performance causing "significant delays", though the allegations were denied by Hsin Chong management.[6]

References
  1. Bonnie Chen, Tsang picks political lightweights for Cabinet Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 21 January 2009
  2. Ko, Tin-yau (12 May 2017). "How a top-tier HK builder got into trouble". Hong Kong Economic Journal.
  3. "Hsin Chong adds Sanshui city plots to its growing property portfolio". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  4. Nguy, Dominique (26 January 2017). "Hsin Chong hit by purported nonpayments". The Standard.
  5. "Hsin Chong under fire for property acquisition". Macau Daily Times. 6 October 2016.
  6. Chan, Holmes (20 August 2018). "West Kowloon M+ museum main contractor fired over alleged insolvency". Hong Kong Free Press.
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