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.
 | |
| Industry |
|
|---|---|
| Founded | 1939 in Hong Kong |
| Founder | Godfrey Yeh Kan-Nee |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong |
| Website | hsinchong |
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
- Bonnie Chen, Tsang picks political lightweights for Cabinet Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 21 January 2009
- Ko, Tin-yau (12 May 2017). "How a top-tier HK builder got into trouble". Hong Kong Economic Journal.
- "Hsin Chong adds Sanshui city plots to its growing property portfolio". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
- Nguy, Dominique (26 January 2017). "Hsin Chong hit by purported nonpayments". The Standard.
- "Hsin Chong under fire for property acquisition". Macau Daily Times. 6 October 2016.
- Chan, Holmes (20 August 2018). "West Kowloon M+ museum main contractor fired over alleged insolvency". Hong Kong Free Press.