Hongkong Land to pursue growth in Singapore via real estate fund, expects lower rents in HK office portfolio

Fiona Lam

/ EdgeProp Singapore

March 6, 2026 2:06 PM SGT

fiona.lam@edgeprop.sg

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The group is eyeing prime commercial properties, focusing on the Marina Bay and Orchard Road districts, for its recently launched fund, SCPREF. (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua / EdgeProp Singapore)

Property development, investment and management group Hongkong Land reckons the positive market momentum in Hong Kong and Singapore will continue this year, while the Chinese mainland may remain challenging.

Overall, it expects underlying profits for 2026 to remain largely unchanged compared to 2025, with future growth to come from improved market sentiment in Hong Kong, its growing mainland China portfolio, and the Singapore fund management business, the group said in announcing its 2025 financial results.

The rental reversions for its Hong Kong office portfolio will remain negative this year, although the magnitude of decline is likely to narrow as market rents return to mild growth, Hongkong Land said in the March 5 bourse filing.

While rents for best-in-class buildings in Central — Hong Kong’s business and shopping hub — have already stabilised with vacancies on a declining trend, the positive impact on rental income will unfold steadily as leases expire and rents go back to market levels, it added.

In Singapore, the group intends to pursue growth opportunities of prime commercial properties, especially in the Marina Bay and Orchard Road districts, via the recently launched Singapore Central Private Real Estate Fund (SCPREF).

The fund focuses on ultra-premium, green-certified assets in Singapore, aligning capital allocation with decarbonisation pathways and long-duration cash flows. It was established with US$6.4 billion (about $8.2 billion) of initial assets under management. Hongkong Land is the manager of the fund, with Qatar Investment Authority and Dutch pension fund investor APG Asset Management as founding investors.

The fund was seeded with some of Singapore’s highest-quality commercial real estate assets, including equity interests in One Raffles Quay, Marina Bay Financial Centre Towers 1 and 2, One Raffles Link, and Asia Square Tower 1, with 2.6 million sq ft of effective net lettable area.

Hongkong Land also plans to manage costs and improve the operating efficiency of existing portfolios.

“Having established deal sourcing and fundraising capabilities, as well as its inaugural private real estate fund, the group is actively assessing both new integrated commercial property projects, as well as acquisition opportunities to grow SCPREF,” said Michael Smith, chief executive.

Efforts to recycle capital from selective parts of the group’s balance sheet and generate cash from the sale of build-to-sell inventory will continue, further increasing new investment capacity, he added.

Hongkong Land looks to maintain the strong momentum this year to grow its portfolio anchors, including the major “Tomorrow’s CENTRAL” transformation of its LANDMARK luxury retail portfolio in Hong Kong. It will also progressively launch the pipeline of ultra-premium properties currently under development, such as Westbund Central in Shanghai.

For 2025, the group’s underlying profit attributable to shareholders dipped 8% to US$458 million, from $499 million, due to lower contributions from Hong Kong. The full-year dividend stood at 25 US cents per share, up 9% from 23 US cents.

Cumulative capital recycled reached US$3.6 billion, or 90% of the 2027 target.

Smith described 2025 as a landmark year for Hongkong Land. The group made significant progress on the initial phases of execution of its new strategy — having delivered on portfolio recycling initiatives, evolving its capital allocation framework to focus on creating shareholder value, and establishing its inaugural real estate fund, SCPREF.

The group continues to wind down its build-to-sell business with lower profits in 2025 and impairment of Chinese mainland inventory amid challenging market conditions.

Hongkong Land has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings in Singapore and Bermuda.