香港顶级富豪区豪宅降价50%甩卖，仓库堆满被关闭企业没收的设备。知名健身房连锁公司破产，引发超过16.6亿港元（2.1亿美元）的索赔案件。资金紧张局面正以几十年来未见的速度在全香港蔓延。
根据与困难公司打交道的人士的说法，“我见过的困境资产比过去30年来的任何时间都要多。”德勤全球破产业务领导者兼中国副主席、主要负责大型企业事务的Deloitte代表如此表示。
当前的资金危机凸显了亚洲顶级金融枢纽——香港，在中国经济增速放缓的大背景下，所面临的日益严峻挑战。尽管银行业系统尚未显现压力迹象，并且北京最近的一系列刺激措施可能为形势带来一定缓解，但企业和个人面临着来自三大方面的压力：需求疲软、借款成本居高不下以及受中美紧张关系影响导致的地缘政治局势，使得香港长期保持的作为中国贸易出口门户的地位面临考验。中国经济放缓使从餐饮到零售消费都出现了急转直下的局面。同时，创纪录的历史高位借贷利率和不断下跌的房地产价格迫使卖家提供大幅折扣，形成连锁反应。
德勤的这位高管表示，在不同行业如房地产业及贸易领域中，困境正蔓延至更多大型公司，并迫使它们进行重组。他预判将会出现更多的企业重组需求，特别是针对那些多元化经营的大集团。“这就像多米诺骨牌效应。”在金融中心香港中央的一间办公室内，他说。
目前，公司失败事件正在上升：今年头八个月共有305家企业被法庭下令关闭破产，这个数字正有可能超过去年的354家（这是自2010年以来最高纪录），并可能创下新高。据官方数据显示，在过去一年里有超过51家公司宣告破产，这一数量在近一年来是最多的。
与美国、澳大利亚及竞争对手新加坡等国家不同的是，香港的公司在遇到困难时并无从美国破产第11章程序中获得救援的选择渠道。房地产行业正处于巨大压力之下，因为住宅和商业物业市场的泡沫正在收缩：房价逼近历史低位，租金收入急剧下降使得办公楼的价值降低。需要出售资产的人不得不接受大幅度打折。
香港本地投资者何尚勋家族于7月将其位于山顶的四栋豪华豪宅以5亿港元的价格售出，较最高价格折价约一半之后，这些豪宅被用作贷款抵押品。另一栋在尊贵地段嘉道理瞭望台的豪华房产也降价至3.6亿元，仅为评估价值的60%。
香港本地一家商业地产公司置地集团（Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.）在香港中心区的一个大厦中以400万港元亏损出售了一层办公楼。为偿还贷款，一位当地商人进行了这一交易。
根据第一太平戴维斯集团的数据，在今年上半年超过1亿美元价值的高端房地产交易中，有75%涉及到资金紧张的卖家。
香港中小型企业（SMEs）正面临严峻考验——约45%的私人部门员工隶属于中小企业。超过四分之三的企业未能恢复至疫情前水平，预计超过三分之一企业未来一年会出现业务恶化情况。根据香港商会今年7月开展的一项调查。
零售销售在去年8月同比下滑12%，创下近两个月来最大跌幅。“我们目前面临的问题是：顾客无从而来。”香港中小企业协会主席麦柏儿说。
香港小糖果厂卡佛食品国际公司（Ka Vo Food International）副经理曾见证了这种变化。该公司由他父亲于1988年创立，当时将美国加州种植的葡萄干和杏仁带入中国，并随着中国的工业化进程逐渐发展起来。之后它在邻近广东省的珠海市开始生产饼干和糖果。
尽管如此，香港疫情后的经济环境发生了根本性改变。“香港现在的经济状况是大流行前与之后两个完全不同的世界。”曾表示，“这基于房产与股票市场的经济结构，因此当这些市场仍旧疲软时，经济无法增长。没人愿意购买东西或花钱。”这一局面给商家带来了巨大的压力。
商店空置现象越来越常见。高街商铺的空置率在第三季度达到约12%，这是自2021年初以来最高水平。位于热门旅游目的地尖沙咀的一位商户报告称，超过15%的店铺为空置状态，比六个月前增加了3个百分点。
一些商家选择关店离场：长期健身连锁公司Physical Fitness在其香港和海外门店总共拥有14家分店，但运营了近四十年后宣布关门。政府要求该公司清偿未付员工退休金后突然关闭；客户索赔总额现已超过16.6亿港元，根据香港消费者委员会的数据显示。
餐饮业亦面临困难时期，去年季度销售额低于2018年水平。美国餐厅连锁Outback Steakhouse则关闭了其在港19家分店中的9家。
面对前所未有的压力和不确定性，德勤高管林先生建议企业控制支出并避免冒险投资。“有些客户预计经济要再过十五年才能恢复到往日的繁荣。”他称道。
未来中美关系将持续影响香港经济。美国众议院本月批准了一项法案，旨在关闭中国香港的三个经贸办事处。
关于疫情前水平何时回归的询问，林先生只以叹息作答。“我不知道。”
新闻来源：www.bloomberg.com
原文地址：Hong Kong Distressed Sellers Flood Market With Assets at Fire Sale Prices
新闻日期：2024-09-29
原文摘要：
Mansions in Hong Kong’s luxury Peak district selling at 50% discounts. A warehouse overflowing with equipment seized from shuttered businesses. A longstanding gym chain collapsing, triggering claims of more than HK$166 million ($21 million).A funding squeeze is putting Hong Kong businesses and individuals under strain in a way not seen for decades, according to people who deal with troubled companies.“There are more distressed assets in the market than I have seen in the past 30 years,” said , Deloitte global insolvency leader and China vice chair in Hong Kong, who deals primarily with large firms.The cash crunch underscores the growing challenges facing Asia’s top finance hub as China’s deepens. While there are few signs of stress spreading to the banking system and recent stimulus measures from Beijing may provide some relief, businesses face a triple threat of falling demand, elevated borrowing costs and a complex geopolitical situation due to US-China tensions that’s put strain on the city’s long-held position as the country’s gateway. China’s economic slowdown is undercutting demand for everything from to dining in a sharp reversal from the boom years. Historically high interest rates and falling property prices are prompting sellers to offer larger discounts, leading to a downward spiral. Weak consumer spending is at retail businesses, leading to the closure of outlets and further undermining public confidence.According to Lai, distress is rippling across industries ranging from real estate to trading and forcing more large companies into restructuring.He predicts more firms will need to restructure, particularly conglomerates. “It’s like a chain reaction,” Lai said in his office in the Central financial district. Corporate failures are rising. In the first eight months of this year, 305 companies were ordered to be wound up by a court, on track to surpass last year’s 354 — which was the highest since 2010, according to . Some 51 companies alone were declared bankrupt in August, the most in more than a year.Unlike in the U.S., Australia and rival Singapore, businesses in Hong Kong don’t have recourse to corporate rescue procedures when in difficulties, such as Chapter 11. The real estate industry is under particular pressure as a bubble in residential and commercial property deflates. Home prices are near an , while plunging rental income has reduced the value of office buildings. Those who need to sell are to accept hefty discounts.The family of local real estate investor Ho Shung Pun sold four mansions on the Peak in July for HK$1.1 billion, about at their high, after they were pledged as collateral for a loan. Another luxury house in prestigious Jardine’s Lookout was for HK$360 million, or 60% of the estimate. In April, a local businessman sold an office floor in Bank of America Tower in Central at a HK$4 million loss to repay a loan.About 75% of high-end property transactions — those worth more than $10 million each — in the first half of the year involved financially stressed sellers, according to data from CBRE Group Inc.Pressure is increasing on property developers, which are controlled by some of the city’s richest families. Last week, , chief executive officer of New World Development Co., resigned in a after the company posted its first annual net loss – the equivalent of $2.5 billion — in 20 years. Before stepping down Cheng was the third generation leader of one of Asia’s great business dynasties.There is some optimism that the start of US monetary easing will help the housing market bottom out and alleviate pressure on indebted businesses. The city’s moves in tandem with the US to preserve the local dollar’s peg with the US currency.“If we look back at the previous rate-cut cycles, lowering of rates are generally positive catalysts for housing prices,” said , an economist at OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. Yet evidence suggests it will take a while for confidence to return to the market, especially given demand remains muted. Sales of homes in the city’s 10 largest housing estates fell to the in two months the weekend after Hong Kong cut borrowing costs. Developers are also continuing to cut prices amid a 20-year backlog of unsold properties. Despite the reduction in interest rates, Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., the city’s biggest real estate company, a new development in Kowloon’s Kai Tak area at 20% below nearby new estates.The Fed’s move won’t “necessarily mean a turning point for Hong Kong property and the economy as high interest rates are not the only factor dragging on the economy,” said , senior EM strategist at Credit Agricole CIB. “Loan demand is not very strong in Hong Kong as economic activity is still subdued.”The pain is evident among the city’s small and medium enterprise owners, which about 45% of the private sector workforce. More than three-quarters of SMEs have failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels, with more than a third of those expecting business to worsen this year, according to a survey conducted in July by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce.Underscoring the challenge for businesses, retail sales 12% in July from a year earlier.“The problem we are facing right now is that we have no customers,” said Pamela Mak, president of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association.Angus Chang has seen this shift up close as deputy general manager of Ka Vo Food International, a family-owned confectionery business based in Hong Kong. The company, founded by his father in 1988, was one of the first to bring California-grown raisins and almonds to China as the country opened up. When China transformed into a production and export hub, Ka Vo Food began making cookies and sweets in Zhuhai in neighboring Guangdong province to sell in Hong Kong and overseas.Business was good. Even during the pandemic, one of their three shops in Hong Kong could pull in as much as HK$3 million a month. Now it makes half that amount. Chang has since closed one store, laid off employees and shortened operating hours. Today, the company is back to only 60% of pre-Covid activity and profit. Hong Kong’s “economy is totally different before the pandemic and after the pandemic,” Chang said, citing local and geopolitical challenges. “The structure of the economy is based on property and stocks, so when those markets still are so weak, you cannot grow. No one likes to buy things or spend money. It’s painful.”Empty shops are an increasing sight. The vacancy rate of high-street stores rose to about 12% in the third quarter, the highest since early 2021, according to Midland IC&I. In Tsim Sha Tsui, an by luxury brands targeting mainland Chinese tourists, about 15% of shops are vacant, up 3 percentage points from six months ago, it said.Some business owners are throwing in the towel. Physical Fitness, a gym chain with 14 branches, shut down earlier this month after operating for almost four decades. The sudden closure came after the government demanded the firm settle outstanding pension payments to workers. Claims by clients have since HK$166 million, according to the city’s Consumer Council. Restaurants are enduring difficult times, with last quarter below 2018 levels. In August, American restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse nine of its 19 branches.Mr Au has a clear view of how some companies are doing. He runs a shop in the city’s gritty Sham Shui Po district selling items seized by liquidators and sold at government auctions as part of his business at .“This year is the worst I have seen in my some 40 years in the industry,” Au said. “One cannot lie when the book is in front of you.” Almost one restaurant closes down every day, he said, adding that his storage warehouse is running out of space. Reselling to potential new business owners is getting harder, compressing his margin, Au said.The government has taken action to help the city’s businesses. Last month it set up a joint with the banking sector to help SMEs under pressure to repay loans. Hong Kong’s biggest lender HSBC Holdings Plc is HK$5 billion worth of pre-approved credit limits to aid smaller businesses. To stimulate the city’s nightlife, officials are also planning to lower the tax on liquor, Bloomberg News . Hong Kong’s stock market is enjoying a rare , triggered by China’s stimulus package last week. The Hang Seng Index has climbed to its highest level since April 2023, after falling for each of the past four years.With the outlook remaining uncertain, Deloitte’s Lai is advising companies to limit spending and avoid risky bets. Some of his clients don’t expect the economy to regain its footing for another 15 years, he said.Strained ties between Washington and Beijing will likely continue to weigh on the city, according to Lai. A US bill to close Hong Kong’s three Economic and Trade Offices in the country was this month by the House of Representatives.Asked when Hong Kong could return to pre-pandemic levels, Lai sighs. “I don’t know,” he replied.
