Hongkong'S Retail Industry Has Been Exacerbated By The Epidemic, And Commercial Real Estate Has Decided To Reduce The Rent.

Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Hongkong's retail industry in February was "worse than ever". In order to relieve the pressure of tenants and reduce the impact of the epidemic, Real Estate Company and shopping center owners such as Henderson, Sun Hung Kai and New World Development announced the rent relief plan in February and lowered the rent in February.
Hongkong Henderson real estate limited said the company will reduce the rent by 20% to 60% for small and medium-sized tenants in the retail, food and beverage industry as well as in the education industry. Henderson said, "in February, the retail, food and beverage industry in Hongkong was seriously affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic."
Hongkong Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. said that the fashion brands of its commercial tenants occupy a large proportion, and the rents of the tenants in February will be reduced by 30% to 50%.
New World Development Co, the owner of many luxury brand business tenants, also said it would cut its rent in February. MTR Corp, a subway station operator, announced that it would adjust rents to small and medium enterprises, and launched a series of mitigation measures for chain stores and international brand tenants.
The real estate investment trustee launched a total rent relief scheme of HK $8 million for its community shopping center, including rent reduction, rent free period, allowing tenants to pay in installments, and exemption from overdue interest and service charges.
The continuous social turbulence in 2019 led to the continuous impact of tourism and retailing in Hongkong, and even threatened the survival of many small businesses. The data released by the Hongkong Retail Management Association showed that 97% of the retail enterprises were in a loss situation since June 2019, of which 90% indicated that the loss level was above medium level, and 57% showed a serious loss.
With the outbreak of the epidemic this year, the situation faced by Hongkong's retail industry in the coming months will be even more severe. According to the latest statistics of the statistics office of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region, the provisional estimate of total retail sales in Hongkong in December 2019 was HK $36 billion 200 million, down 19.4% from the same period last year. A spokesman for the government said, "the threat of the recent outbreak of new coronavirus has dealt a heavy blow to the tourism and local consumption climate in Hong Kong, and the business environment of the retail industry has become even worse. The development and control of the epidemic will largely relate to the short-term prospects for retail sales. The government will pay close attention to this. "
As of 0 February 18, 2020, 72436 cases of new coronavirus were diagnosed in China, of which 60 cases were confirmed in Hongkong.