Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng said his family business is still looking for a successor, calling into question the long-held notion that his eldest son will take over his property and retailing empire.
Cheng, 76, said he is observing who may be the family’s next leader, according to local media reports that cited a television interview over the weekend.
His eldest son, Adrian Cheng, is chief executive officer of New World Development Co., one of Hong Kong’s biggest real estate companies. The Cheng family also owns a stake in Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. Adrian Cheng’s siblings include Sonia Cheng, who looks after the Rosewood Hotel Group.
Since the family has businesses in different sectors, it isn’t necessary to find a single leader, and instead members can take respective roles, Henry Cheng said. If there isn’t a suitable candidate, he may also consider hiring outside of the family.
Cheng also said he wanted to spin off different businesses to list them at an appropriate time and environment to boost transparency.
Henry Cheng is the son of the deceased Cheng Yu-tong, who built the family fortune from jewelry and real estate. Henry Cheng has a net worth of $21.6 billion, making him Hong Kong’s third-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
New World has rapidly grown under Adrian Cheng, with investments including a $2.6 billion mega mall-office complex next to the city’s airport and multiple projects in mainland China.
The expansion has turned New World into the most indebted developer among its bigger peers. Its high leverage, in combination with rising interest rates and the rippling effect of a property slump in mainland China, has raised concerns among investors.
Shares of New World rose 0.8% in Hong Kong trading on Monday. The stock has dropped 30% this year, more than an 11% loss for the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
New World’s net debt to shareholders’ equity was at 93.5% at the end of June, according Bloomberg Intelligence. The ratio could surge to 122.3% if the company sees declines in the value of its investment properties along with operating profit from property sales and rental income, BI analysts estimated last month.
(Updates with debt-to-equity ratio in the last paragraph)
