Hsin Chong
Industry
  • Construction
  • Property development
  • Real estate
Founded1939 (1939) in Hong Kong
FoundersGodfrey Yeh Kan-Nee and Chien Chu-Keng
DefunctJanuary 2020 (2020-01)
Headquarters
Hong Kong
Websitehsinchong.com

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

History

It was established in 1939 in Hong Kong as Hsin Chong & Company by Godfrey Yeh Kan-Nee and Chien Chu-Keng.

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.

Chu-Keng's son Philip worked briefly at Hsin Chong before starting his own firm. [1]

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.[2]

Recent developments

Chinese billionaire Lin Zhuo Yan has taken over control of the company from the Yeh family. In recent years, the company has diversified into mainland China property development.[3] In May 2014, Hsin Chong Construction Limited agreed to pay HK$10.625 billion for properties in Sanshui city.[4]

Anonymous Analytics reported in September 2016 that Lin uses Hsin Chong as a "personal dumping ground" for loss-making development properties.[5][3] Hsin Chong has also been accused of acquiring properties at inflated prices.[6] The company's Hong Kong business was 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.[3] 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.[5]

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.[7]

References

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