Agile boss sells another Hong Kong apartment at 62% below fire sale cost

Chen Zhuolin, chairman of the struggling mainland Chinese developer The Agile Group, sold a residential property in Hong Kong at a 62% discount from the purchase price six years ago, according to government records.

The 62-year-old tycoon sold an 872 sq m three-bedroom apartment at Hamburg Villa on Eastbourne Road in Kowloon Tong for HK$8 million ($1.03 million) on November 1, according to the city’s Land Registry. Chen is the sole director of Joint Smart Development, which paid HK$21.4 million for the apartment in 2018, before the market peaks in 2021.

Chen earlier sold another apartment in Villa Hamburg in August for HK$14.3 million, or 54% below its purchase price, according to official records.

The fire sales showed the slump in China’s property stocks over the past four years has eroded the personal fortunes of local and mainland tycoons, while draining others in extreme cases, such as executives at China Evergrande. Other major casualties include Ho Shung-pun’s family and the family lately retail magnate Tang Shing-bor.

Chen Zhuolin seen during a press conference in Admiralty, Hong Kong in March 2017. Photo: KY

Chen and his husband Luk Sin Fong, through a family trust, control 58 percent of Agile, whose shares have fallen 92 percent over the past five years.