China property development projects’ pre-sales and sales show ‘no meaningful improvement’ as weak market sentiment persists
[SINGAPORE] Property developer First Sponsor said that its European portfolio recorded a 1.3 per cent increase in operating income, which rose to 14.9 million euros (S$22.5 million) for Q3 2025, from 14.7 million euros in the year-ago period.
This was driven by stronger performance from the office portfolio, which recorded a 5.5 per cent increase in operating income, from 5.5 million euros in Q3 2024 to 5.8 million euros in Q3 2025, it said in its third-quarter business update on Monday (Oct 27).
However, it was partially offset by the hotel portfolio’s lower operating income, which fell 1.2 per cent year on year to 9.1 million euros from 9.2 million euros. This came amid weaker trading at Le Meridien Frankfurt, a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, due to business disruption from major refurbishments of its 80-room Palais Wing.
Excluding this hotel, total operating income would have been 15.3 million euros for Q3 2025, compared with 14.3 million euros in Q3 2024, the group noted.
For the first nine months of 2025, the European portfolio’s operating income slipped 1.1 per cent to 39.6 million euros from 40 million euros. This came amid lower contributions from the hotel portfolio, which posted a 2.1 per cent year on year decline in operating income from 22.7 million euros to 22.2 million euros.
The office portfolio’s operating income inched up 0.3 per cent for the nine-month period, from 17.3 million euros for 9M 2024 to 17.4 million euros for 9M 2025.
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First Sponsor expects recurring income of its European property portfolio to be “further enhanced” with the completion of works in various hotels.
These include refurbishment works at Le Meridien Frankfurt’s Palais Wing, and redevelopment works for Puccini Hotel in Milan, Dreeftoren Amsterdam and Prins Hendrikkade Amsterdam – expected to be completed in FY2026.
Property development segment in China and Sydney
For its property development segment, First Resources noted that the first pre-sale for Sydney House Residences – which is 39.9 per cent owned by the group – was launched in late September and achieved “satisfactory results”.
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Comprising 241 premium residential apartments, Sydney House Residences is the residential component of the Sydney House project in Australia, which also comprises a 135-room luxury hotel and 6,400 square metres of lower-floor retail and commercial spaces.
The group noted that construction for the Sydney House project has been “progressing well” and remains on schedule. The project is 59 per cent complete as at Oct 21, and slated to be fully completed in Q3 2027.
Meanwhile, pre-sales and sales for its China property development projects have shown “no meaningful improvement”, weighed by persistent weak market sentiment in the country.
However, the group noted that these projects do not present “material cashflow pressures” for it as they are largely completed. This allows the company to take a “long-term view” on the projects’ sales.
As at Q3, the group’s total saleable gross floor area for its China property development projects stood at 1.8 million square feet, for 18,937 units.
The counter was trading flat at S$1.02 as at 4.32 pm on Tuesday.
