Press Release
For Immediate Release
 
 
 
 
Road King Announces 2016 Annual Results
 
Remarkable Results in Toll Road and Property Business
Profit for the Year Increased by 66% to HK$1,374 Million
*****************
Proactively Seeks for Quality Land Parcels in Hong Kong
Seizes Opportunity Alongside Belt and Road Initiative to Develop Toll Road Network
 
Financial Highlights:
 
Audited results for the year ended 31 December­­­­­­­

	2016	2015	Change
Property sales (including joint venture projects) (RMB million)	18,683	11,649	+60%
Revenue (HK$ million)	16,842	12,510	+35%
Profit for the year (HK$ million)	1,374	828,3	+66%
Earnings per share (HK$)	1.69	1.11	+52%
Dividend per share (interim & proposed final) (HK$)	0.55	0.48	+15%

 
(13 March 2017 - Hong Kong) Road King Infrastructure Limited ("Road King" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries the "Group", 1098.HK), announced today its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2016 (the "Review Period").
 
During the Review Period, property sales and toll revenue of the Group (including joint venture projects) were RMB18,683 million and RMB2,376 million respectively, amounting to RMB21,059 million in total, representing a significant increase of 52% as compared to the same period in 2015 while the profit after tax (excluding exchange and related differences) was HK$1,518 million. Taking into account the exchange and related differences of HK$144 million (2015: HK$330 million) due to RMB depreciation, the profit for the year of 2016 was HK$1,374 million, representing an increase of 66% as compared to the same period last year, with earnings per Share of HK$1.69. The Board has resolved to recommend a final dividend of HK$0.55 (2015: HK$0.35) per share for 2016.
 
Property Business
In the first three quarters, the Chinese government implemented various policies such as reducing interest rates and deposit reserve ratio and loosening austerity measures for the property market. As a result, the property market has performed well. Despite the strengthening of austerity measures of the property market in the fourth quarter by the government, the Group achieved remarkable results continuously by adhering to its operating strategies of deeper exploitation and balancing turnover and profitability. In 2016, the Group's property sales (including joint venture projects) increased to RMB18,683 million, including the contracted sales of RMB17,613 million and outstanding subscribed sales of RMB1,070 million, representing an increase of 60% compared to last year. The average selling price was RMB13,700 per sqm, representing an increase of 25% as compared to last year.
 
In 2016, the Group has proactively looked for quality land parcels to replenish its land reserve. Through listing-for-sale and acquisition, the Group acquired fifteen pieces of land in Hong Kong and mainland China for residential and commercial development purpose, with an aggregate floor area of about 2,700,000 sqm., increasing the Group's land reserve to 7,000,000 sqm. In view of the new opportunities for developing the property business in Hong Kong, the Group, for the first time, acquired a land parcel with gross floor area of 34,000 sqm in 2016, and successfully won the bid of phase I of the residential plot next to Wong Chuk Hang Station with a joint venture partner in February 2017, showing the strong comprehensive strength of the Group.
 
Toll Road Business
The total traffic volume and toll revenue of the Group's toll road projects reached 80 million vehicles and RMB2,376 million, respectively in 2016, while the Group's share of operating profits of toll road joint ventures increased by 53.2% to HK$383 million. It is mainly due to the stable growth in the traffic volume of Changyi Expressway and Baojin Expressway.In addition, the expressways acquired earlier, namely Longcheng Expressway and Machao Expressway, have become mature and recorded increases in both traffic volume and toll revenue, and achieving breakeven and profits respectively. During the Rewiew Period, the Group continued to divest the remaining Class I/II highway projects and the optimization of investment portfolio strategies was almost completed. Meanwhile, the Group has been seeking for new expressway projects with reasonable returns.
 
Going Forward
Looking ahead to 2017, Road King concluded, " The Group is optimistic about the outlook of China's property market, and will continue to adhere to its strategy for regional exploitation, adopt an operating strategy for striking a balance between profits and sales volume, enhance the value-added services of property management, and improve products and services quality as well as brand recognition. Meanwhile, the Group will continue to work closely with its business partners to seek for better development opportunities and will keep capturing new opportunities for developing the property business in Hong Kong, expanding its business development in property industry. In additional to property business, toll road business is also a fundamental part of the Group to provide steady cash flows. 'Belt and Road' initative will provide a wider room for the development of toll road network in China, leveraging on the advantage as the industry leader, the Group will definitely seize the upcoming opportunity."
 
- End -
 
About Road King (HKSE stock code: 1098)
Based in Hong Kong, Road King Infrastructure Limited ("Road King" or the "Company") is a prominent property developer in the PRC and focuses on developing quality residential apartments at affordable prices. The existing asset portfolio of property business is primary located in the Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Rim regions, comprising a land reserve of approximately 7.0 million sq.m. Road King is also a leading toll road investor and operator in the PRC with over 20 years of experience in the industry. The current toll road portfolio comprises five expressways spanning 340 km in the PRC. For more information on Road King, please visit: http://www.roadking.com.hk.